During the Industrial Revolution, the Luddites and their sympathisers wrecked the machines that they believed threatened their jobs and way of life. Some, especially in France and Belgium, were called “saboteurs” because they wore cheap and clunky shoes or sabots (and not because they threw shoes into the gears, though that’s an evocative image).
Modern saboteurs have decided to yank the Game of the Year award from the video game Clair Obscur because it used a small number of AI-generated art components. Ironically (or maybe not) the developers of the game are French, just like the original saboteurs!
I can see why artists object to their work being used to train AIs. But I think they’re on the wrong side of history, as indeed the (non)-shoe-throwing textile workers turned out to be.
What do you think?