Sarah McLaughlinMar 30, 2023

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
Show threadSarah McLaughlin

"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
Mar 31, 2023 at 6:42pmWeb
Show threadAlex 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
Show threadSarah McLaughlinMar 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