In the landscape of AI, artists and creatives have radically different interests than the tech companies scraping “data” — including individual artists’ works and styles — to build and refine their tools. And in this friction lies a vastly uneven power dynamic. How can artists protect their rights to their own work in the face of forces using and distributing it indiscriminately? How can regulatory frameworks keep up with the complexities of this dynamic?

In the final talk of the Ideas Matter: Ethical Challenges of AI series, we’ll hear from computer scientist Shawn Shan, who has developed solutions, including “data poisoning” strategies, that artists can use to fight back against the AI machine. In short, this strategy enables artists to essentially corrupt the files to their art that lives online, so AI models can’t scrape them in the typical fashion. Millions of artists have used Shan's tools since he made them available. This is a step in balancing the scales and putting some agency and power back in the hands of creators. Shan will also share his vision for ultimately building a more collaborative and fair AI ecosystem.

Food will be provided. Please RSVP here so we know how many attendees to expect.

This lecture is presented by OSU's School of History, Philosophy and Religion, the College of Engineering, and OSU Libraries & Press and is supported to the Thomas Jones and Mary Hart Horning Endowment.