Mastodawn

ourdumbfuture Mar 30, 2023

Sarah McLaughlin

Boy do I have some thoughts about this CEO's quote in @drewharwell's great reporting on Midjourney.

1) THIS IS HOW YOU END UP WITH TOOLS THAT APPLY ONE COUNTRY'S AUTHORITARIAN RULES TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE

2) He doesn't at all consider that Chinese people might also want to satirize Xi Jinping. Do they not matter?

3) "Minimize drama" is condescending nonsense. Being able to criticize one of the most authoritarian leaders in emerging tech is not a question of "drama."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/03/30/midjourney-ai-image-generation-rules/

How a tiny company with few rules is making fake images go mainstream

Midjourney, the year-old firm behind recent fake visuals of Trump and the pope, illustrates the lack of oversight accompanying spectacular strides in AI.

The Washington Post

Sarah McLaughlin Mar 31, 2023

"Midjourney CEO Says ‘Political Satire In China Is Pretty Not Okay,’ But Apparently Silencing Satire About Xi Jinping Is Pretty Okay"

Thanks to @mmasnick for letting me write at Techdirt about why we should worry that Midjourney is applying China's speech restrictions to all users, even those outside China. https://www.techdirt.com/2023/03/31/midjourney-ceo-says-political-satire-in-china-is-pretty-not-okay-but-apparently-silencing-satire-about-xi-jinping-is-pretty-okay/

Midjourney CEO Says ‘Political Satire In China Is Pretty Not Okay,’ But Apparently Silencing Satire About Xi Jinping Is Pretty Okay

As a rule, it’s a good idea to be particularly suspicious of defenses of censorship that — coincidentally — materially benefit the people espousing them. In this case, the argument in favor of cens…

Techdirt

Alex Barredo 📉Mar 31, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @mmasnick great read. What's the situation on outputs of the Prophet Muhammad? That's also a common can of worms

Sarah McLaughlin Mar 31, 2023

@Barredo @mmasnick I don't believe I've seen anything on whether people have tried and had issues with some religious imagery, but I wouldn't at all be surprised to see that happen. If it did, I'd be interested in seeing if the justification was to avoid offense or to avoid blasphemy laws in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, etc

Conlan Spangler Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh Wherein “ability to generate satire” is a fun, obfuscating way to say “free speech”.

Sarah McLaughlin Mar 30, 2023

@conlan just a tiny, minor little thing like political expression about possibly the most powerful person in the world. small potatoes

Conlan Spangler Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh It's best not to take a principled stand on anything that's “pretty not-okay”.

🌐 ☸️Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell Jeez my eyes are bleeding

BoredomFestival Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell "minimize drama" is a poor euphemism for "we are cowards"

PenthesileaCF Mar 30, 2023

@BoredomFestival @sarahemclaugh @drewharwell When people say "don't make this political" when assuming *any* stance -- including the status quo -- is inherently a political act. Disingenuous or stupid, possibly both.

Catherine is not complacent Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell I find that odd because Chinese citizens have been quietly mocking Xi with panda and Winnie the Pooh pics for years. Makes me wonder about their financing.

VulcanTourist [MOVED]Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell

> Being able to criticize one of the most authoritarian leaders in emerging tech is not a question of "drama."

It *is* merely a question of drama, from a sociopathic exploiter's POV. He's entirely unconcerned with the sociopolitical consequences of their product beyond how those consequences might affect HIM and profitability. Having the Chinese gov't gunning for him isn't very profitable. Also, every CEO is a de facto dictator.

Louis Evans Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell what the fuuuuuuuuuck

Alan Twigz Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell amazing that California liberty focused, move-fast-break-bones anti regulation folks suddenly turn into shy 'don't rock the boat' types when the liberties in question apply to folks in other countries or demographics

BradPatrick Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell @Popehat yikes. Wrong straight out the gate.

The Polish Dispatch Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell One could create satirized images of Xi and claim they were created with Midjourney. Let the drama commence....

Alexander Ruthol Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell
The reality is that he wants to sell his product in China, and then he cannot draw pictures of Xi as Winnie the Poo, or recognize the word 'Taiwan' in a prompt.

Graham Webster Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell while we’re at it, China tech policy specialist here 🙋‍♂️

There’s no way this product is going to be doing business in China under the country’s forward-leaning rules on deep synthesis service providers. If they wanted to try, they would need to start build a whole censorship apparatus and possible start over with new training data. So it’s not like they’re protecting a revenue stream here.

Draft of the rules that have now been finalized https://digichina.stanford.edu/work/translation-internet-information-service-deep-synthesis-management-provisions-draft-for-comment-jan-2022/

Christopher Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh
"Our ability to sell this tech in China is more important than..."
@drewharwell

Doctor Biobrain Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh I got the impression from Musky’s walkback of Free Speech Absolutism as if he imagined all countries are implied democracies so using their laws as the line for free speech was obeying the Will of the People. It’s as if Chinese citizens must want to be censored or they’d have a different government.

I’m sure most rightwing libertarians feel the same because their “worldview” is limited to their own perspective and everything else is a cheap rationalization.

Kevin Russell Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell

Dan Holtz has crossed over. He isis no longer capable of reasoning and reasons, he now only responds with excuses, a pavlovian response to triggers from his wallet.

keplerniko Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell It's not a public service, and it's not an oligopoly thing like Google or Microsoft where your alternatives are limited and inferior. It's cutting edge experimental tech provided under a subscription: there are terms and conditions you have to agree to, and is it out of line for for the founder to keep his future business opportunities open by not allowing this tool to be used in a way that would blacklist him?

I get the frustration that everything at our disposal can't be used to do whatever we want with it, but that is the nature of things--few rights are completely unrestricted. And this isn't a right but a frivolous service used to make fake photos.

Dany Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell I read three paragraphs. Enough. MAAAN!!!

Avi Rappoport (avirr)Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell Gift paywall-free version of the article

zeruch Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell that does seem on #DavidHolz' part to be the most tacit admission that he's an invertebrate who wants the Chinese market more than much else.

It's almost cartoon-villain insipid.

Rachel Maria Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell Judas Xi is a thin skinned guy. Remember his over the top anger about Whinnie The Pooh? Last Week Tonight did a segment on that a few years back - probably available on YouTube now.

Evannakita Mar 30, 2023

@sarahemclaugh @drewharwell I agree with you on this—although I do want to bring up how the idea regarding your second point is that if satire of Xi Jinping is allowed, then it’ll just be straight-up banned in China.

So the way the CEO would respond to that question is “of course they matter, and that’s why we’re doing what we can to make sure they have as much access to this tool as we can offer.” Which unlike most of his quotes would actually be a fair response.

Ken McGraw Mar 31, 2023

@sarahemclaugh wow, just how dumb does the little profit whore think we are?