Tumblr is selling your datas to A.I.

Tumblr is a historic microblogging social network that in 2019 had 376 million unique monthly users and 44.6 billion posts. In 2018, a ban on adult content caused it to decline rapidly, resulting in the platform’s sale to Wordpress, Auttomatic in 2019.
(Source: Statista)

Two days ago, Tumblr staff published the following announcement: content shared on the platform will be fed to artificial intelligence training models.

Artists and A.I.

The platform creators are shocked. Sharing one’s skills with a tool that is training to replace them is not the best. Tumblr knows this and therefore grants the ability to “opt-out,” that is, to revoke permission to process their data. But there is a problem.

Many artists and writers have not ac- cessed their Tumblr for years. They don’t know what is happening. They can’t imagine what will happen to their content. An “exit” option is given knowing that few will take it, not out of preference but because it requires action. Instead of allowing the option to “revoke permission,” “Opt-out,” the option to grant it, to “Opt-in,” should be included. But for Tumblr, “he who is silent consents”. And everyone is silent because no one knows.

Fandom artist communities are the hardest hit by this phenomenon, as the drawing style they develop over years of study is the defining element in standing out and being noticed by fans and customers. Making it easily replicable results in moral and economic damage. Independent platforms as www.kirke.social, startups that prioritize real artists, banning A.I.-generated content and working on tools to protect uploaded works, are then born.

How to “Opt-out” from A.I. on Tumblr

Log in to your profile > click on Blog settings > scroll down to the Visibility section > turn on the Prevent third-party sharing feature

Share this article with your friends to let them know how to opt-out!

Tumblr is not the only social platform selling data to A.I. models. Reddit has struck a $60 million-a-year deal to license its data to Google to train its artificial intelligence. Facebook and Instagram, of course, are already using the data for Meta’s internal A.I. tools.

Artists are concerned about the developments, but to their fears we reply that painters did not stop painting when photography was born. By the principle of scarcity, if everyone can generate images and text with A.I., human-created content will become more valuable.

Thanks to independent projects like Kirke.social, perhaps artists and fandom will have a chance to start over from the beginning and repopulate a new, supportive and AI-free place.