As the creative community continues to adjust to the world of generative artificial intelligence (A.I.) artwork, websites like Etsy have been placed into an awkward position. A number of items on the website now consist of A.I. art, and customers have been asking Etsy to clarify its position on whether the artwork sold on Etsy could be A.I. generated. Etsy has now announced its policy on A.I. art, and it is, generally speaking, going along with it. People can sell A.I. art on Etsy, but the website has put a specific limitation on these pieces.

In a recent ad campaign, Etsy has been pushing the fact that the products that it sells are “handmade,” and obviously, for some critics, the notion of selling A.I. generated artwork seems to contradict that notion, so Etsy is requiring sellers to label their work if it is A.I. generated.

What is Etsy’s position on selling A.I. art?

Etsy is requiring listings, like this drawing of Spider-Man generated by A.I., to label itself as not “handmade.” In the case of this drawing, it should be marked as “designed,” and not handmade. However, the use of art generated by A.I. “prompts” to a generative A.I. machine is considered to be enough human input for Etsy to count it as being “designed by” a human.

The policy elaborates, “Permitted examples of this might include a fantasy scene based on a seller’s original prompt or inputs and produced by an AI generator, or a custom portrait of a buyer’s pet generated using AI tools. Sellers must disclose within their listing description if an item is created with the use of AI.”

What is Etsy’s position on selling A.I. prompts?

The one major change with regard to A.I. products on Etsy, however, is that the website will no longer allow people to sell A.I, prompts. These are collections of prompts that users could use to create images on generative A.I. machines, like Midjourney. Etsy has presumably determined that selling a prompt for someone else to use is no longer in the real of “designed by.”

In the company’s recent first quarter earnings call, it stressed that Etsy and its marketplaces “share a mission to “Keep Commerce Human,” and we’re committed to using the power of business and technology to strengthen communities and empower people.” The company also believes that its new A.I. policy supports artists, noting, “After carefully considering the complex issues surrounding AI-generated content, we have decided to continue to allow sellers to use their original prompts in combination with AI tools to create the artwork they sell on Etsy. We believe this decision aligns with our values of supporting artists through the evolution of art.”

Source: TechCrunch