Artist banned from r/Art because mods thought they used AI

Moran posted a screenshot of the direct message thread with a moderator, where they appealed the ban and explained that they didn’t use AI at all.

Hyderabad: Reddit’s largest art forum with 22 million members went private after debates and accusations about what constitutes AI-generated art went viral.

Minh Anh Nguyen Hoang, the lead artist at the Kart Studio, Vietnam, who creates art using the name Ben Moran, on December 27, took to Twitter and stated that he has been banned from the subreddit r/Art for his digital illustration, titled “a muse in warzone”.

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Moran posted a screenshot of the direct message thread with a moderator, where they appealed the ban and explained that they didn’t use AI at all.

 

r/Art is banning artists who have styles “too similar to AI generated art.” pic.twitter.com/qCTKn7Blap

— Reddit Lies (@reddit_lies) January 4, 2023

“I can give you guys the process or the PSD file of that painting,” Moran wrote, adding that they have not used any AI-supported technology. He stated that the punishment is “not right”, and even linked to their portfolio on DeviantArt.

“I don’t believe you,” a moderator for r/art replied. “Even if you did ‘paint’ it yourself, it’s so obviously an Al-prompted design that it doesn’t matter. If you really are a ‘serious’ artist, then you need to find a different style, because A) no one is going to believe when you say it’s not Al, and B) the AI can do better in seconds than what might take you hours. Sorry, it’s the way of the world.”

The artist was reportedly commissioned to produce for $500 for the cover of one of fantasy fiction author Selkie Myth’s books. In late July last year, Myth reportedly contacted Moran via email asking them to produce the work, with the final piece, chosen from four options, being produced by September 7, 2022.

The cover design was done by mid-October after being modified according to Myth’s specifications. However, in late December, Moran posted the close-to-final design of the piece on to r/Art, when it was quickly banned by the moderators on suspicion of using AI-generated art, which is against the platform’s rules.

“The level of mod abuse is absolutely shocking,” one redditor wrote. “It’s not just that the artist was wrongly banned. It’s that when they appealed, the mod doubled down, called them a liar and insulted their art.”

The subreddit was set to private for most of Thursday, but is now back to public. Moran, however, remains suspended as the controversy continues to roil. “There is a really simple solution. Unbanning him, saying what they did was wrong, and maybe even making a post saying, ‘Oops, we made a mistake’ would fix things so fast and get people saying, ‘OK, you know, they made a reasonable mistake’,” Myth reportedly stated.