To be honest, when the AI hype started I initially was very skeptical - mostly because early models didn't bother with attribution and the way they were fighting against the very idea of copyright in itself made me pessimistic about the things to come. The tech industry has a bad habit of ignoring these laws thinking it doesn't matter, getting caught, fighting it in court, then eventually losing. The Sora shutdown is a good example but there are countless examples of this happening throughout history.
I changed my mind about it somewhat after I noticed that newer models give proper attribution of their sources, which is a bigger deal than most people think - in the aftermath of these legal battles, there was usually no upside for creatives because from their point of view, nothing had really changed. But the combination of new regulations and market needs (attribution is non-negotiable for professional development, the need was always there) has created a new opportunity for technology to create a copyright system that can operate at scale, even while remaining fully digital.
The big issue here is provenance. Historically speaking, the reason why DRM (digital rights management) initiatives often fail is because they get bottlenecked by startups trying to "own" the records to the rights - incumbents don't want competition (they're charging $50 per registration these days), new projects don't have the community's trust, and having all those agreements sitting in one server by one company made them too vulnerable to stand on their own. So what happens is that a new startup attempts to "solve" this problem, runs for about a few years, then shuts down eventually as they're not able to keep it going for the long-term. All those records - now just gone.
At teia.cafe, we're taking a much different approach - by starting with TEIA's blockchain-based registration system, which is both an open-source project, community run/owned, and a non-profit entity that acts as the "neutral ground" that was always needed in the space. Even if our company were to close up today, the records will always remain attached to the FA2 token that has been standardized and used for over 6 years now - it's still the best chance for the industry to make it work, even today.
The idea here is to use the blockchain's immutable records and combine it with the power of AI to give proper attribution and create a royalties payment system that is both transparent and fair. If that can be made into a reality, people - not just artists, but everyone as a whole - may finally see how this technology can be made for the public's benefit and I do think more people will come around as well. I really do believe that it is in the tech industry's own interest to make this happen - because the reality is that copyright controls most of what happens in the arts/entertainment industries and there is more money to be had there, too. Bridging the gap between AI and attribution may be the most important issue we're facing today, honestly.
Video: "Connecting AI to Attribution" (OBJKT #885695). Music: "Corridors of Information" by Ryan Tanaka (OBJKT #674015).
teia.cafe · Blockchain systems/analytics for artists and creatives