AI regulation has been a hot topic of discussion for several months now, with numerous companies carefully monitoring the evolving landscape and protecting themselves with pre-emptive policies. Kickstarter, too, has hopped on the bandwagon, recently announcing its own set of policies concerning the use of artificial intelligence on the platform.
The global crowdfunding corporation announced via its official website its new policy, which mandates creators disclose any usage of AI in their projects. Creators will be required to provide detailed information on how they plan to incorporate AI in their work and clearly differentiate between AI-driven elements and purely original content.
For projects revolving around new AI tools or software, full disclosure of the datasets used for AI training will be compulsory, along with information on how consent and proper crediting of the data will be handled.
The policy isn’t toothless either – failure to comply with these guidelines will result in the suspension of projects, and creators who deliberately attempt to violate or deceive backers will face a ban from future project submissions. Implementation of this new policy by Kickstarter is set to take effect on August 29.
Here’s a full summary of the new policy:
To be allowed on Kickstarter, projects utilizing AI tools for generating images, text, or any other output must disclose relevant details on their project page. This includes information about how the creator plans to use AI content in their project, as well as which elements of their project will be wholly original work and which elements will be created using AI outputs.
Projects developing AI technology, tools, or software must disclose information about any databases and data the creator intends to use. The creator must also indicate how these sources handle consent and credit for the data they utilize. If the sources don’t have processes or safeguards in place to manage consent, such as through an opt-out or opt-in mechanism, then Kickstarter is unlikely to allow the project.
We want this policy to promote continued transparency on Kickstarter, particularly between creators and their backers. To support that, we’re also introducing two new sections in our product where creators can share how they use AI in their projects. pic.twitter.com/zUh6gWQ2aN
— Kickstarter (@Kickstarter) August 1, 2023
Kickstarter has emphasized that this new policy is not a ban on AI. Its aim is to have complete transparency between creators and their backers. Creators will have to fill out a form structured with questions that will determine the use of AI in any project being submitted.
A moderation team will then review the projects submitted, and once approved, they will be attached with a “Use of AI” section on the publicly viewable page of the project. The issue of how to handle AI use has posed a challenge for many companies recently.
Just a couple of months ago, Valve made headlines when it declined to publish a game on its Steam platform, citing concerns about AI-generated content. The decision sparked a wave of reactions from gamers, with some promptly criticizing the developer’s actions.
However, Valve later clarified the situation, explaining that the decision was primarily rooted in copyright infringement concerns rather than a blanket rejection of AI. Valve further admitted that it lacks a well-defined guideline for reviewing content that involves AI use.
As more companies begin making adjustments towards the uncharted landscape of artificial intelligence, we can expect to see an influx of similar policies emerge with the aim of safeguarding user data from the hands of malicious creators.
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