There are better ways to protest than violating a legally binding agreement - seems more like an emotional reaction than a properly thought through protest.
It's risky though, if the protest is annoying or damaging enough (antisocial behaviour basically) it can actively turn people away from your position. As in "Oh these are a bunch of insane/evil/violent etc people and that type of person tends to have this type of view, I as a good person do not have these kinds of views"
Why not organize a worldwide protest where every participant produces and shares Art denouncing generative AI? "AI might produce single pieces but this collective work, this is what AI can't do" and so on.
What they're doing is so weird and ineffective in contrast, it baffles me.
For three hours, they gave everyone access to create videos with Sora, some of which could very well be art. Not only that, but the form in which they did this and the statement they made could also be considered art. I think they've done well here.
In their statement, they make it clear that they're not opposed to the use of AI in art: they're opposed to the abuse of artists to pretend that OpenAI is doing this for their sake. This serves their perspective better than any juvenile anti-AI quilt could have.
> Why not organize a worldwide protest where every participant produces and shares Art denouncing generative AI
Ah yes, a feel good protest that can be completely ignored by everyone, especially OpenAI. Even better, maybe OpenAI could fund it? That way they get to claim they hear the protests but they don't have to actually change anything.
Say everyone completely ignores the protest; surely that's a valid data point that should in itself make those artists reflect on their own positions & ideas? Maybe, just maybe, people in the general public actually value generative AI, regardless of what artists think about it?
Meh, not entirely sure what would work better. Having read through the huggingface post a few times now, suppose it's less of an emotional reaction, more actual protest to abusive practices.
Breaking contracts seems tame by comparison.