The future isn't looking very good but I have hopes that won't make passionate artists stop being creative.
Its worse then we thought, sky-net anyone?:
Elijah Chen
I was wondering what happened to the wiki. I was looking for the desktop backgrounds and it looked like they were deleted.
Ever had to knock on wood? 'Cuz I know someone who had.
At 3/2/24 06:14 PM, YendorBear wrote: Its worse then we thought, sky-net anyone?:
https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/03/researchers-create-ai-worms-that-can-spread-from-one-system-to-another/
Well, I figured we were long overdue for another ILOVEYOU incident. I'll give them a few years until someone tries making a rougue version of that.
Ever had to knock on wood? 'Cuz I know someone who had.
Thank god ever since other art websites have become breeding grounds for AI I was scared the same would happen to NG kudos for adding work arounds
If only other sites would follow this example.
At 3/2/24 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote: Site Work
This week we added an AI flag option, for when you need to flag a project that was predominantly made by AI. Previously people were using the "Spam" or “Inappropriate” flags as a workaround.
If you have a big list of links on your user page and ran into a bug with sorting them, that is fixed.
Unregistered users now see the Follow button, so they know following artists is an option.
If you noticed missing images in the Wiki, some stuff got misplaced during cleanup but that should be fixed. Let me know if you see missing images anywhere. We're still in an overall internal site cleanup mode where weird things can happen.
Revisiting one of last week’s updates, if you ever experienced the bug where you uploaded an image in the author commentary of a project, only to have it be replaced with a line of text showing the path to where the image should be, that bug is now resolved. You will need to go back to those projects and re-upload the image, however.
There were a bunch of smaller changes this week, for example if a project has been deleted it will no longer say that it “never existed”, only that it doesn’t exist.
With the PHP update largely in the rearview, the current big project is an overhaul to the feed system. We’re making changes that will reduce database storage and improve performance of the feed, so it should feel snappier if everything works as expected.
Web News
In recent weeks, we learned that Reddit, Tumblr and Wordpress have made deals with AI companies, allowing them to train on user data.
There was also an executive order to stop the sale of personal data to countries like Russia and China. It’s still fair game for companies to sell it everywhere else, though!
Also noteworthy, here’s an Open Letter to Tim Cook, concerning Apple’s efforts to sabotage web apps. Word is that Apple has changed course after this letter but I’m sure they will still be looking for ways to make the web less competitive than apps.
I thought this would be a good time to remind everyone that we aren’t selling your personal data to anyone, we aren’t making deals to train AI on your data and we are committed to the open web.
We do have to compete with these companies for your attention, though! If it wasn’t for all the money to be made off personal data, a lot of these platforms might not even exist and NG would have a more level playing field.
Making things more challenging, NG is ad-free on every page except A-rated movies and games, with the goal of being 100% ad-free if enough people become Supporters! If all this sounds good to you, we would really appreciate your support.
Sludge Brothers Kickstarter
PFINNEY is hosting a Kickstarter to create an animated pilot for his original series, Sludge Brothers!
The Kickstarter made decent progress this week, if we can help get it close, it will encourage people to take it all the way in the final days. Here’s some of @PFINNEY’s movies on NG:
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/911459
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/803478
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/914032
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/918461
Collabs this Week
Here are some collabs that were released this week!
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/918863
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/919731
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/919630
https://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/919703
https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1298129
https://www.newgrounds.com/audio/listen/1299653
All of the ongoing art for the Dreamcast Collab has been making me wonder how enormous this will be!
Other News
Pixel Day Winners have been announced!
The Music Triathlon is currently in Voting Phase 2!
February 28th - LISA Campfire Collab deadline.
February 28th - Transformers Collab deadline.
February 29th - Pokemon Mystery Meat Collab deadline.
March 1st - Adult Swim Collab deadline.
March 8th - Bug Collab deadline.
March 15th - RIP General Collab deadline.
March 17th - Lucky Collab deadline.
March 20th - Storytime Collab deadline.
March 23rd - Sandwich Collab deadline.
April 3rd - Kamen Rider Collab deadline.
April 15th - Happy Tree Friends Gijinka Collab deadline.
April 20th - Earth Day Collab deadline.
April 21st - Flash Forward deadline.
May 18th - Pico Day
June - Midsummer Rumble month-long art event!
June 5th - NGTV Summer Bash deadline.
June 27th - Christmas in July Collab deadline.
June 28th - Too Many Games Meetup in Oaks, PA.
July 20th - Five Nights at Freddy's Collab deadline.
Awesome!
At 3/2/24 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote: Web News
In recent weeks, we learned that Reddit, Tumblr and Wordpress have made deals with AI companies, allowing them to train on user data.
Reddit is also gearing up for its IPO. I won't be surprised if these are vain attempts to boost its valuation or something (before it inevitably tanks.)
Slint approves of me! | "This is Newgrounds.com, not Disney.com" - WadeFulp
"Sit look rub panda" - Alan Davies
At 3/2/24 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote: If you noticed missing images in the Wiki, some stuff got misplaced during cleanup but that should be fixed. Let me know if you see missing images anywhere. We're still in an overall internal site cleanup mode where weird things can happen.
Happy to hear this! Noticed this just last night before bed when I was curious about some of the Meet and Events pics, I'm glad it ended up getting fixed. I'm a bit surprised that the follow button wasn't there for unregistered users prior to this, happy it's there now though! A small change, but a good one nonetheless.
Question about being able to flag for AI - let's say there's a submission where the submission itself isn't using AI, but the thumbnail for the submission was created using entirely AI. Would that be flag-worthy?
At 3/2/24 11:42 PM, Gimmick wrote:At 3/2/24 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote: Web NewsReddit is also gearing up for its IPO. I won't be surprised if these are vain attempts to boost its valuation or something (before it inevitably tanks.)
In recent weeks, we learned that Reddit, Tumblr and Wordpress have made deals with AI companies, allowing them to train on user data.
A finance bro friend of mine mentioned the lack of a lockup period on those shares (meaning stockholders won't need to wait to dump them) and expects it to tank hard as a result.
I'm hoping the IPO's a complete shitshow.
Always nice to get some insight on what's going on behind the scenes! For a second I thought the AI flagging option might be a new AI-enhanced system replacement to automatically moderate content without any user input - glad we're not taking that route just yet. XD
Also glad WordPress doesn't seem to be sharing self-hosted WP content for AI training, though that's still a shock to read, Automattic's one of the companies I would've considered most committed to user integrity... and they already do earn plenty on their services, so they shouldn't need that money either...
Priorities in check around NG fo shizzle, good reminder.
Hey guys! Any idea how to hide the AI stuff on here? I don't really feel like seeing it, so if there is an option to hide it, I'd love to know how!
Luckily we’re at a stage where most people can spot AI generated images a mile away. I hope there’ll still be tells going forward and more people will learn to recognise them.
I’m all for people who want to use it as an assistance tool but the guys who make their entire project in AI then try to post it online along side the human made stuff is just depressing really. It’s not that I’m worried my work will ever be bettered by AI (As I think it’ll be a very long time before it is able to generate anything actually creative or interesting) its just that its a flood of ugly shite to have to sift through.
At 3/3/24 06:26 AM, Roksim wrote: Hey guys! Any idea how to hide the AI stuff on here? I don't really feel like seeing it, so if there is an option to hide it, I'd love to know how!
Easy. Report it when you see it by clicking the flag button and selecting the AI option. A human mod will review your report and remove it if they find it credible.
Stuff completely made from AI is not allowed here.
I wonder if as AI art improves and becomes a bit more indistinguishable from human art the process of creating art will begin to factor in more to the finished package.
Like if I made a game, I could release that alongside the story of how I made it, what influenced it, what ideas I had that may not have made it into the final product, what I would change if I made it again, etc. Couple of benefits here is that the human element is pulled to the forefront, and that other artists can learn from each other as knowledge is being shared.
Would sharing this information add an extra layer of interest to the project for players I wonder?
Of course I’m sure the people using AI exclusively could either fake this part or just miss the point entirely and talk about how AI made the game lol. But I think for me the human element of art is just as interesting as the finished product. I love hearing about how people went about making stuff.
Always good to stay true to yourself. Thank you Tom
ZombieGhost
At 3/3/24 07:11 AM, Chris wrote: I wonder if as AI art improves and becomes a bit more indistinguishable from human art the process of creating art will begin to factor in more to the finished package.
Like if I made a game, I could release that alongside the story of how I made it, what influenced it, what ideas I had that may not have made it into the final product, what I would change if I made it again, etc. Couple of benefits here is that the human element is pulled to the forefront, and that other artists can learn from each other as knowledge is being shared.
Would sharing this information add an extra layer of interest to the project for players I wonder?
Of course I’m sure the people using AI exclusively could either fake this part or just miss the point entirely and talk about how AI made the game lol. But I think for me the human element of art is just as interesting as the finished product. I love hearing about how people went about making stuff.
If we ever get to that point I think that there would be a drastic change on how things are submitted to this website. I imagine a dystopia where anyone could accuse you of using AI to create your submission, then like we do at the audio portal submit an appeal. But this process would have multiple file uploads of screenshots, source code, and what not to convince the mod you are not the AI Boogeyman.
I'd sure hate for that to happen. Imagine if a member of the Clock-crew had to prove they actually did put in work into their latest cartoon. Half the crap they make could be misconstrued as AI generated.
At 3/3/24 07:27 AM, YendorBear wrote:At 3/3/24 07:11 AM, Chris wrote: I wonder if as AI art improves and becomes a bit more indistinguishable from human art the process of creating art will begin to factor in more to the finished package.If we ever get to that point I think that there would be a drastic change on how things are submitted to this website. I imagine a dystopia where anyone could accuse you of using AI to create your submission, then like we do at the audio portal submit an appeal. But this process would have multiple file uploads of screenshots, source code, and what not to convince the mod you are not the AI Boogeyman.
Like if I made a game, I could release that alongside the story of how I made it, what influenced it, what ideas I had that may not have made it into the final product, what I would change if I made it again, etc. Couple of benefits here is that the human element is pulled to the forefront, and that other artists can learn from each other as knowledge is being shared.
Would sharing this information add an extra layer of interest to the project for players I wonder?
Of course I’m sure the people using AI exclusively could either fake this part or just miss the point entirely and talk about how AI made the game lol. But I think for me the human element of art is just as interesting as the finished product. I love hearing about how people went about making stuff.
I'd sure hate for that to happen. Imagine if a member of the Clock-crew had to prove they actually did put in work into their latest cartoon. Half the crap they make could be misconstrued as AI generated.
Yeah its going to get dark going forward I think.
When I made Robot Factory I read a lot about AI and where its going and basically what we've got now is Artificial Narrow Intelligence. Which means its below human intelligence, but as they train it it continues to get smarter eventually reaching Artificial General Intelligence where its as capable as humans in every way. Once they've got that they'll basically set the AI to work on Artificial Super Intelligence which is AI beyond human intelligence.
The worst thing is that the experts have no fucking idea how the more advanced AIs are going to behave.
Another problem is they're using the AI to train the future models which means its all accelerating as its like constantly hiring someone better to work on the project. Just look at that Will Smith eating spaghetti AI video that people were laughing at just a year ago and compare it with what Sora is currently putting out.
In Robot Factory I drew the comparision to a chess computer being able to beat the human chess masters, its scary to think about but I suspect we're going to end up with similar tech for other situations going forward.
We already passed that point a while back, you may recall the episode where the openai board threw sam altman out and the proverbial five minutes later that decision got reversed, joe and jane public got told essentially nothing substantial for an explanation as to what this internal spasm was about and a number of weeks later there's the sora demo or whatever they were called falling out of the sky with no prior announcement and no papers published as to how that all went down.
Those clips are a flex for lack of a better term, what it takes to generate those is not a single model that's more sophisticated than the previous ones individually but rather it employs multiple models working in tandem to arrive at a given output. I'm oversimplifying but think of a language model interpreting the prompt and formatting that to feed to the image generator model with a third model to audit for coherence and a fourth model overseeing/compressing the feedback loop of the lot of them error correcting each other for a couple cycles until they reach a consensus etc.
At 3/3/24 06:26 AM, Roksim wrote: Hey guys! Any idea how to hide the AI stuff on here? I don't really feel like seeing it, so if there is an option to hide it, I'd love to know how!
What AI stuff are you seeing? Is it something in the art portal?
1.) All great changes!! Always a great thing to see the site improved, even if it’s nothing flashy.
2.) Thanks for featuring the 200+ BPM collab and the Christmas in July deadline! Newgrounds collabs are so fun :)
Howdy and hello, folks :)
At 3/3/24 01:54 AM, CarterSterling wrote:At 3/2/24 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote: If you noticed missing images in the Wiki, some stuff got misplaced during cleanup but that should be fixed. Let me know if you see missing images anywhere. We're still in an overall internal site cleanup mode where weird things can happen.Happy to hear this! Noticed this just last night before bed when I was curious about some of the Meet and Events pics, I'm glad it ended up getting fixed. I'm a bit surprised that the follow button wasn't there for unregistered users prior to this, happy it's there now though! A small change, but a good one nonetheless.
Question about being able to flag for AI - let's say there's a submission where the submission itself isn't using AI, but the thumbnail for the submission was created using entirely AI. Would that be flag-worthy?
If the thumbnail is a complete misrepresentation of the image, in particular with art entries, then you could flag it for that. Otherwise it could be left alone, a lot of musicians use AI for their cover art and we're not going to be cracking down on that sort of thing.
At 3/3/24 09:31 AM, TomFulp wrote:At 3/3/24 06:26 AM, Roksim wrote: Hey guys! Any idea how to hide the AI stuff on here? I don't really feel like seeing it, so if there is an option to hide it, I'd love to know how!What AI stuff are you seeing? Is it something in the art portal?
Oh, no, I haven't seen any yet (I believe), but, I have took this News post to mean that the AI stuff will be more readily accepted on the site... Like, stuff that involves incorporating it in
I was under the impression before that it is quite strict on Newgrounds, so I wanted to perhaps retain my so-far great experience with NG and not seeing any AI stuff yet, in advance, by maybe learning of a toggle somewhere to hide it
Maybe my concerns are unfounded though, I do trust you guys to have the interests of a regular person who just likes art a lot in mind... Sorry for perhaps raising a bit of concern!
At 3/2/24 02:48 PM, BlueMonday1984 wrote:At 3/2/24 12:39 PM, TomFulp wrote: If you noticed missing images in the Wiki, some stuff got misplaced during cleanup but that should be fixed. Let me know if you see missing images anywhere. We're still in an overall internal site cleanup mode where weird things can happen.I didn't find any missing images checking the Portal History, but I did notice a submission getting blocked as "unsuitable" despite the fact I set my content settings to allow A-rated content:
Looks like it's not applying filters correctly, I made a ticket!
