>>> POWERFUL AI MODELS CAPABLE OF CONVINCINGLY COPYING THE STYLE OF VIRTUALLY ANY ARTIST TO PRODUCE ORIGINAL IMAGES HAS SWEPT THE INTERNET.

FOR EXAMPLE, HERE ARE SOME MAGIC AVATARS THAT I GENERATED WITH SOME SELFIES.

BUT ARTISTS WORK CAN NOW BE EASILY MIMICKED SADIE SAY I GENERATED IMAGES REPRESENT AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT .

NOW, A TEAM AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO IS HELPING ARTISTS FIGHT BACK AND PROTECT THEIR WORK.

JOINING US IS A PROFESSOR OF COMPUTER SCIENCE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO , WHERE HIS RESEARCH INTERESTS INCLUDE SOCIAL NETWORKS, SECURITY, AND PRIVACY ISSUES THAT COME WITH THEM.

WELCOME BACK.

THANKS FOR JOINING US.

>> HELLO.

>> SO WHAT, WHY HAVE THESE KINDS OF AI MODELS BECOME SUCH AN EXISTENTIAL THREAT FOR ACTUAL HUMAN ARTISTS?

>> YEAH, IT'S AMAZING.

THESE AI MODELS HAVE REALLY GROWN TREMENDOUSLY IN JUST A MATTER OF MONTHS, AND THEY ARE ABLE, NOW, TO NOT ONLY GENERATE ORIGINAL, SORT OF, ILLUSTRATIONS, BUT ALSO, NOW, TO BE ABLE TO MIMIC ANY SPECIFIC ARTIST GIVEN JUST A FEW SAMPLES OF THEIR WORK.

SO YOU CAN SEE THE MODEL TAKE SAMPLES FROM ANY ARTIST THAT YOU ENJOY , AND AFTER TRAINING A LITTLE BIT MORE, THAT MODEL WILL BE ABLE TO SIMULATE AND PRODUCE ORIGINAL PIECES OF ART OF WHATEVER SUBJECT MATTER YOU LIKE, YOU KNOW, MIMICKING THE STYLE OF THAT ARTIST THAT IT'S BEEN TRAINED ON.

SO, YEAH, IT'S A BIG DEAL, BECAUSE A LOT OF THESE ARTISTS HAVE TRAINED AND, YOU KNOW, WORKED DECADES TO BE WHERE THEY ARE , DEVELOP THAT PERSONAL STYLE.

ALL OF A SUDDEN, TO SEE THAT PARTICULAR STYLE BE REPLICATED IN A MATTER OF SECONDS BY AN AI MODEL WITHOUT, YOU KNOW, CREDIT, WITHOUT PAYMENT, OR COMPENSATION.

>> AT WHAT POINT DID YOU COME TO REALIZE THAT THIS WAS BECOMING SUCH A PROBLEM THAT IT PROMPTED YOU AND YOUR TEAM TO COME UP WITH A SOLUTION, AT LEAST FOR NOW?

>> IT'S VERY INTERESTING, A COUPLE YEARS AGO, WE HAD DONE SOME WORK ON PROTECTING INDIVIDUALS FROM MACHINE LEARNING RECOGNITION MODELS, AND SO LAST YEAR, LAST SUMMER, WE STARTED GETTING A COUPLE EMAILS ON A MAILING LIST WE SET UP FOR USERS, AND A COUPLE OF THEM WERE ASKING ABOUT WHETHER WE COULD USE OUR TOOL ON ART, FOR ARTISTS.

WE WERE ACTUALLY QUITE CONFUSED AT THE MOMENT , IT TOOK US, I THINK, A COUPLE MONTHS FOR THE NEWS TO HIT ABOUT SOME OF THESE OTHER MODELS BEFORE WE REALIZE WHAT THIS WAS ABOUT.

AND SO WE WENT BACK TO THEM AND STARTED TALKING TO THE ARTISTS, GOT INVOLVED IN SOME OF THE TOWN HALLS, AND REALLY HEARD, FIRST-HAND, DOUBLE IMPACT THAT THESE MODELS WERE HAVING ON THEIR LIVES, AND THAT'S WHEN WE DECIDED WE NEEDED TO ACT.

>> SO LET'S ILLUSTRATE THE THREAT TO ARTISTS.

WE WANTED TO SHOW THE WORK OF CARLO ORTIZ , WHO HAS WORKED WITH YOU ON THIS.

AND SO WE'RE GOING TO SHOW IT.

THE FIRST SET OF IMAGES WE'RE GOING TO SHOW COMEDIES OR ORTIZ IS ORIGINAL WORK.

SO WE'RE GETTING A LOOK AT THAT RIGHT NOW.

ART BY CARLO ORTIZ.

SO THESE NEXT THREE IMAGES THAT WE'RE GOING TO SHOW, THEY WERE CREATED BY AN AI MODEL THAT IS TRYING TO MIMIC ORTIZ'S STYLE , AND VIEWERS CAN KIND OF SEE THE SIMILARITIES AND DIFFERENCES THERE.

OKAY, SO NOW, THIS NEXT SET OF IMAGES, THE RAI ATTEMPTS TO COPY ORTIZ, BUT THIS TIME, THE WORK HAS BEEN PROTECTED BY YOUR GLAZE OUT.

AND THE END PRODUCT, WELL, IT ENDS UP LOOKING LIKE BAD VAN GOGH.

WITHOUT GETTING TOO TECHNICAL ON US, HOW DOES THE APP HELP PROTECT ARTIST'S WORK ?

IT DOES SOMETHING WITH CHANGING THE WAY YOUR APP IS DISCERNIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE.

HOW DOES THAT CONFUSE THE AI MODEL?

>> RIGHT.

THERE IS A FUNDAMENTAL DISCREPANCY BETWEEN HOW MACHINE LEARNING VIEWS IMAGES AND HOW WE VIEW IMAGES.

AND SO THAT'S WHAT WE'RE EXPLOITING.

BASICALLY, MACHINE LEARNING , IF YOU THINK OF IT, THEY SEE IT AS DIFFERENT BUT DIMENSIONS THAT HOW WE SEE IT.

SO THINK OF IT, LIKE, ULTRAVIOLET.

CERTAIN SIGNALS THAT WE DON'T PICK UP BECAUSE OF THE LIMITATIONS OF OUR SENSES.

MACHINE LEARNING MODELS SEE A COMPLETELY DIFFERENT SIDE TO THESE IMAGES.

WHAT WE DO IS WE DECIPHER THAT.

WE BASICALLY BASE IT ON THE MODEL THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO.

WE UNDERSTAND WHAT THEIR USE OF STYLE IS, AND THEN WE WORK WITH THAT IN ORDER TO BASICALLY MANIPULATE AND PUSH THESE PIECES OF ART ALONG THAT DIMENSION SIGNIFICANTLY, SO THAT IT REALLY DISTORTS WHAT THE MODEL SEES, BUT IN THE REAL WORLD TERMS , IN VISUAL TERMS FOR US, IT CHANGES ACTUALLY VERY LITTLE.

>> SO YOUR APP IS PROVIDING A TECHNOLOGICAL FIX, WE'RE ALSO SEEING SOME LAWSUITS TARGETING THE COMPANIES CREATING THESE AI MODELS .

THE APP WAS SUED THIS WEEK BY ILLINOIS FOR VIOLATING STATE BIOMETRIC INFORMATION AND PRIVACY ACT.

DO YOU THINK THAT, ULTIMATELY, IT'S GOING TO BE LEGISLATION THAT IS GOING TO BE NEEDED IS A PERMANENT FIX TO REIN IN THESE COMPANIES?

>> I THINK IT HAS TO BE.

I THINK IT REALLY HAS TO BE.

SOME OF THESE TECHNOLOGICAL SOLUTIONS, LIKE OUR APP, YOU KNOW, IT HELPS.

IT'S REALLY MEANT TO RAISE THE BAR FOR, YOU KNOW, HOME USERS CANNOT JUST CLICK A BUTTON AND BASICALLY REPLACE A PARTICULAR ARTIST