Posted in: Comics | Tagged: conan, facebook, liam sharp, meta

Rich Johnston, Locked Out Of Facebook, Please Help? Plus, Conan…

Rich Johnston, Locked Out Of Facebook, Please Help? Plus, Conan...

It looks like I am not alone in there. There appears to have been a surge in the number of people whose Facebook accounts have recently been suspended, with "cybersecurity" cited as the reason. Well, I seem to have joined them. If you were trying to find me there, in my usual Facebook space, you won't. Instead, I have managed to resurrect an old abandoned Facebook Page that still has a Lying In The Gutters logo from the Comic Book Resources days. Currently, there is an inability to add Friends to it. Still, if you'd like to get in touch with me through Facebook, that is the only way.

Of course, if anyone reading this works for Meta, or knows someone who does, and wants to help me out with that main Facebook account, that would be most welcome. It would certainly save me from having to go down to their London King's Cross headquarters and getting fobbed off in person. Or performing some song and dance on TikTok in the hope it might go unignorably viral.

I'm not the only one having problems on Facebook. An article I was working on before I was turfed out involved Liam Sharp, who posted an A.I. coloured and painted version of one of his Conan artworks, that he had come across. Naturally, it did not go down well. He followed up saying;

"Ok, so a bit of a kerfuffle started on here last night because I pointed out that a piece of my black and white art had been run through AI without my consent, and posted with my name attached. I sincerely believe the person that did it did so without any malicious intent, and the credit was meant with respect. However, as has been pointed out by others, there are multiple issues here:

1. First up, if somebody does this without first asking, that means their work is now part of that AI's database. That may well be moot at this stage, as much AI has already trained on the entire internet. The point is, it is part of that much wider ethical question of steal first, ask forgiveness later that big tech has adopted, and that many governments are actually forgiving on our behalf, primarily because of the money involved.
2. Posting it without asking permission immediately signals that the named artist is OK with that, which opens the creator up to the possibility of being called out for something they had no part in.

"I'm not angry because there is a lack of understanding here by a lot of people that are not themselves creators, and I think we are becoming a smaller and smaller percentage of the population deeply bothered by AI. Most people I know outside the arts don't really understand or care. I have spent a lot of delicate time explaining, but I'm not going to hate on anybody for their ignorance in these matters. I find that wading in arms swinging just tends to make people even more defensive and less open to understanding. It's ok to tread lightly, even when the problem is clearly mahousive! But yes – don't pass other people's art through the AI portal to six-fingered hell without at least asking them first. Give them the opportunity to say no."

He then followed up saying, "I've just had a post go a bit more viral than usual, and it's funny how you suddenly get complete strangers giving you advice, and saying you might have what it takes to become a professional. Just the 39 years as a pro to become an overnight success then! Bless." Any way this might go viral, Liam? I could do with the advice from complete strangers…

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