MICHAELS is under fire after a shopper discovered that the chain is selling what appears to be AI-generated artwork in their Halloween collection.
The controversy erupted when Jack Valentine, known on social media as @flippedthrift, shared his discovery about the artwork on TikTok.
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"I saw online this morning that Michaels may be using AI art for their Halloween line," Valentine said, documenting his visit to the store.
"When I walked in, sure enough, all of the Halloween was out but there was one piece in particular that I was looking for."
Valentine's attention was drawn to a piece of wall decor depicting a spectral bride draped in flowing white robes, surrounded by several white wolves.
He pointed out several flaws in the artwork, such as blurry background trees and an odd detail of wolves with three front legs.
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But the most glaring issue was the presence of clear watermarks.
"Sure enough, clear as day, right at the bottom, you can see a robot logo as well as a Freepik logo," Valentine noted.
Freepik is an AI photo and art-generating website.
"This is so disappointing. It’s also so obvious," Valentine said.
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"As a store that specializes in selling art supplies and has a customer base of artists, you should be supporting real artists, Michaels."
He further voiced his frustration in the video caption, writing, "SUPER disappointed with Michael’s this year…"
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Valentine's discovery prompted a range of reactions from TikTok viewers.
Many were shocked and dismayed by Michaels' use of AI art.
"MICHAELS NO MICHAELS WHY," one person wrote.
"Not the logo," said another.
And this incident is not isolated to just Michaels.
Previously, Walmart faced similar backlash for allegedly selling AI-generated artwork.
This sparked a widespread debate about the ethics of profiting from AI art, especially from billion-dollar corporations.
What is The AI Art Generator Freepik?
What is Freepik and its AI art generator?
Freepik is a platform offering a vast array of graphic resources such as vectors, illustrations, photos, and more catering to designers and creatives.
Freepik's AI art generator allows users to create unique images based on text descriptions or selected styles.
Some argue that crafting good AI art requires skill and vision, while others believe the use of AI in art should be ethically scrutinized.
One Redditor defended AI art, stating, "The creation of AI Art still requires practice, vision, skill, and experience."
"In regards to stealing art from other artists, well I could go to Fiverr or Deviant Art and commission a One Piece, Dragon Ball, or fakemon OC or design," they said.
"Artists replicate and use other styles all the time," they said in their defense.
Another user added they don't believe it is inherently unethical.
"It’s a software tool," they said.
"Does it have unethical uses? Sure. So does almost everything, including traditional art."
Others saw the pivot to AI-generated artwork as inevitable.
"I KNEW they would start doing this," wrote one user.
If AI art is going anywhere, it’ll be to those art pieces sold at Ross, Michaels, HomeGoods, and TJ Maxx," one user commented.
Another questioned why Michaels wouldn't just collaborate with real artists.
"As a store that specializes in selling art supplies and has a customer base of artists, you should be supporting real artists, Michaels."
Jack Valentine, @flippedthrift
"They could easily commission a few artists every year to come up with different themed Halloween stuff."
Valentine agreed, saying, "There are literally so many artists dying for work that don’t even require a massive paycheck."
In response to the controversy, Michaels issued a statement apologizing, saying the sale of this art was a mix-up.
"This artwork was purchased from a vendor who licensed the original source material from an artist," Michaels said in a statement.
"Without our knowledge, the vendor added an AI-generated layer to the image," the chain explained.
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"This is an unacceptable error that we are addressing by removing the product from our website and stores, and offering refunds to any customers who purchased it."
"Michaels will always support artists and will be taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future."
