University of Chicago professor, PhD students create tools to protect art from generative AI

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Artists and creatives have been concerned about generative AI replicating and stealing their work, artistic style and potentially their careers.

University of Chicago Professor Ben Zhao and his team of Ph.D. students are helping to fight back against this issue. Last year, they developed a product called Glaze, a tool that protects artwork from being mimicked by AI.

Now, they're releasing Nightshade, a tool that attacks Generative AI by poisoning image data.

This "poison" tool protects the image or artwork from being reproduced by altering the data that AI receives. For example, AI could misinterpret the word "dog" and produce an image of a cat.

What does it mean for the future of the art industry? Artist Steven Zapata, hopes it will bring companies back to the negotiating table and protect their future careers. It's available for public use and can be currently downloaded for free.