“I really hate generative AI,” Procret CEO James Cuda said in a video posted on X, outlining the app company's stance on generative AI technology.
“I don't like what's happening in the industry and I don't like what it's doing to artists,” he continued, noting that the popular Procreate app for iOS devices isn't jumping on the generative AI bandwagon.
The company doubled down on its position in an official statement on its website titled “AI is not our future.”
“Generative AI is taking humans out of things,” the statement says. “The technology built on the foundation of theft is leading us to a barren future. The company says generative AI is a “moral threat” to human creativity and has assured users that it will not use the technology, use their data or track their activities—a major concern of users of design software giant Adobe, which protested a controversial change to its terms of service earlier this year.
Adobe faced a major backlash over its generative saturation feature when users shared concerns about the company's access to their results to train AI models. Adobe came out with an apparent license weeks later, but it was hard to undo the damage caused by the PR disaster.
Procret's ad has drawn a lot of reactions on social media. Tech YouTuber Marcus Brownlee called Procreate's decision to ditch AI features entirely an “exciting announcement” citing the long-term implications. “Adobe take note,” he said.
Artist Carla Ortiz has now given her enthusiastic support in a lawsuit against AI company Statility AI. “This is how Artists Company supports artists,” she wrote. “By honoring and empowering them, not taking advantage of them.” She also returned her unconditional support to Procreate's tweet.
However, not everyone appreciated the decision. Alex Goodwin, co-founder of the Open Model Initiative and a former employee of Tranquility AI, was skeptical.
“This is clearly a political move rather than an opinion or an election,” he told Decrypt. They do this because they have a lot of anti-AI users and have seen the reaction other companies have had. To add AI features or terms like an EULA to allow training on content, so they make that post by being the good guys and trying to get positive press.
Goodwin says AI is not the enemy of artists.
“AI image generation is a tool for artists to work better and faster, not a human replacement,” added Goodwin.
This position is shared by many artists to the extent that they use generative AI tools like any other tool to create art.
“Artists use AI [generative AI] As a tool, just like how a traditional artist would use a canvas, paintbrush or procrastinator, the self-described AI artist Aunysillyme tweeted. “Artists who use AI don't just say, ‘I'm going to make a picture of a dog,' real AI artists do.” What comes down to their urgency is the vision they want to produce.
“Sometimes it takes hundreds of generations, quick edits, regional adjustments, color corrections, stylistic edits and more to get the exact artwork that matches the artist's original vision,” she added.
Procreate's hard line against generative AI is to use other AI-driven features. The app includes tools like QuickShape for automatic shape correction, ColorDrop for advanced color fills, and StreamLine for smoothing brush strokes. However, they believe there is a line that should not be crossed in technology.
“We think machine learning is a compelling technology with a lot of value, but the path towards artificial AI is wrong for us,” the company said.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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