Adobe slammed after not-so-intelligent AI misrepresents indigenous Australians and exploits their art

Artificial intelligence is producing wildly inaccurate images of Indigenous Australians, mashing them up with other global Indigenous peoples. Digital tech giant Adobe has been criticised over the erroneous images on its stock image platform, which can be downloaded and used in content around the world. The issue has sparked outrage and there are growing fears that generative AI also has the potential to ignite an explosion in fake Aboriginal art and is already cheating real artists out of sales. Dr Tamika Worrell, a senior lecturer in the Department of Critical Indigenous Studies at Macquarie University, said it took mere seconds for AI to artificially generate artworks “which mimic Indigenous styles and stories of art”. “We are seeing AI-generated images amalgamate Indigenous peoples into a global mono-cultural group, often taking elements of Indigenous peoples cultures and practices from around the globe,” Dr Worrell said. “It’s increasingly concerning the impact this will have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples whose art practices are their primary source of income. It won’t surprise me if we start to see AI-generated imagery that attempts to replicate Indigenous art.” She said regulation needed to be introduced to ensure the platforms “don’t replicate, or encourage, the harmful practice of fake Indigenous art”. Some AI systems also draw from inappropriate and inaccurate sources, which fuel the spread of misinformation. Kylie Hill, an Aboriginal artist from the Kalkadoon and Waanyi in far North Queensland, urged people to shop carefully. “The best remedy would be for people to buy real art, including digital artwork from Indigenous artists, and not the fake stuff you get through Al images,” she said. “People would be using these images of real artists works and that’s not fair on the artists. “ Dr Worrell suggested the industry involve Indigenous people in creating, maintaining and evaluating the technologies, “rather than asking them retrospectively to approve work already done”. “AI developers and governments like to claim they are serious about ensuring AI technology benefits all of humanity,” she wrote in The Conversation. “But unless they start involving Indigenous people more in developing and regulating the technology, their claims ring hollow.” Australia’s oldest and largest private Indigenous-owned legal and consulting firm, Terry Janke and Company, said involving First Nations people whose Indigenous cultural and intellectual property might be used by AI in the design of the system can create some protection. “It can help maintain, contribute to, and preserve cultural knowledge,” it wrote. A spokesperson for Adobe said the company was “on a journey of reconciliation with the First Nation peoples of Australia”. “In 2022, we implemented our inaugural Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan. As we continue our pursuit of reconciliation, we are always exploring how we can evolve and update our RAP,” the spokesperson said. “Regarding Adobe Stock, we are continually auditing, evaluating, and improving the collections to serve our customers’ needs.”