(IMPORTANT, PLEASE READ) Oh gosh.... Original by @GirlInaHoodie (incase this is remixed) (unedited description; my (@RayatheRaccoon13) additions are in Notes and Credits; do read this though if you haven't already, and if you'd like to remix it yourself, please do so to the original project, not this one) tap/space ----- (PLEASE READ THE WHOLE THING, ITS VERY IMPORTANT) Ooookay so um- logged into Scratch this morning and saw this screen- asking for my actual state in the US. I dont know how many people on here know about the AI age verification laws but, holy cow its here... Research it if you dont know about it!!! But here's a quick rundown: So basically, various websites will have an AI bot tracking everything you do and it will decide whether or not you are above or below the age of 18 (legal adult). If it decides you are below that age, it will automatically put restrictions on your account, and you cannot take them off until you give them (typically) some sort of selfie, or your government ID. YT was the first id heard of doing it (which is why im on an indefinite hiatus), so I will use that as an example. EDIT: I DO NOT KNOW FOR SURE if scratch is using an AI tracking bot yet! But this could definitely be a stepping stone to an AI bot tracking our activity. At the moment, what we are 100% sure of is that scratch is using our content (whether that be art or coding, in shared or unshared projects) to train third party sites and AI!!! (below is just AN EXAMPLE it is not what scratch is!!) (not yet anyways) Say all you watch on there are cartoons and colorful animations. This could be because you are an adult and just like that stuff (most of which are not on this site, but you get the idea), or maybe you have kids of your own and show them that kind of stuff. The AI bot tracks everything you watch, search, and people you follow/sub to. If it deems you "underage," it then puts restrictions onto your yt account, and the only way to get it back to normal, is to have them SCAN YOUR FACE or you SEND IN A PHOTO OF YOUR GOVERNMENT ID!! DO NOT DO THIS WITH YOUR, OR YOUR PARENT'S ID!!!! This is extremely unsafe for either party!! You don't just give stuff like that out!! There have been MANY cases where this stuff has been leaked and hacked. Emails and stuff are bad enough! DONT GIVE ANYONE THIS INFORMATION! IT'S BASIC INTERNET SAFETY!! EDIT: All of this also means scratch is LEGALLY ALLOWED TO USE OUR ART TO TRAIN AI WITHOUT TELLING US!! Use heavy watermarks or don't post art on Scratch anymore!! Honestly thinking about leaving now bc if I cant use scratch for art, then its pretty much pointless to me ToT All of that being said, if I randomly disappear off of Scratch, this stuff is why. All the ai stuff makes me *extremely* uneasy- I DO NOT like the idea of an ai bot tracking me and everything I do, or snatching my art to train ai... This also makes me very very sad bc I do love this site, and many of the people on here.. It's my home and has been the only place ive been able to share my art. It's also been the reason ive grown my art this much. Now I'm not just saying goodbye, I'll still be here for now. But if this goes too far, I will leave. Please spread this around, whether you send someone the project link, or just tell them about it. This could be very dangerous, and I feel that it should be known. (P..S if it didnt ask for your location, it's probably bc your account is not in the US, as laws vary among the states!!) PLEASE GO AND READ THRU THE TOS UPDATE YOURSELF! I want everyone to be fully educated on the matter without having to fully depend on me or others ^^ Screenshots are from: https://mitscratch.freshdesk.com/en/support/solutions/articles/4000219339-privacy-policy I suggest reading it when you get the chance so you are also aware of everything they say. Never have I ever actually read thru the terms and services until now xD :') ----- Please please please educate yourselves on this. Knowledge is power. If you have the knowledge on stuff like this, they cant trick you into losing it all. also sorry for the rushed project lol. I'm working on the art for the raffle winners, as well as some other stuff. Let's hope I'll be here to share it all :') (Check inside the project in case I disappear to my continue to see art) ----- Check out these other projects that talk about this too! They go over some stuff I didnt :)
I wanna hope that it isn't going the AI surveillance state route, but considering how the USA is rn (and the fact that I don't think this is a thing happening in other countries?) and how willing Scratch team is to just lick the boots of generative AI, I wouldn't exactly be surprised. Trying not to immediately jump to worst case scenario but it's hard not to nowadays. I really hate where this is heading and I wish that Scratch team and our government would actually do something good for once, this route will only serve to ruin the planet, steal from artists, and crush all sense of privacy we once had. Do better, Scratch team, this is pathetic. Idc if my anger gets taken down, I will have my voice heard even if it's only by a few people because I have had it. This account is one month away from being 5 years old, probably the longest lasting account I've ever had, and yet this may very well push me to leave. I'd hate to leave, I really would, but if I can't post art here then what's the point? I've never really been good at coding so it's not like I could make a game or anything, and even if I could their AI would probably scrape that too. I wish I could have a good thing, but good things aren't profitable apparently, at least not as much as selling our data to the highest bidder. I am so disappointed with everything rn. I have history on this site, the course of my art style evolving, my first webcomic (the toph dc au comic-ified projects), so many DTAEs that I got characters from, and if it weren't for Scratch I probably never would've found the amazing friend group I'm part of today. Oh how the mighty have fallen, and it is sickening. I was willing to put up with it when the AI stuff was optional, but I draw the line at it touching my stuff whether I like it or not. I'll see this DTA thing https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1269445756/ and the MAP https://scratch.mit.edu/projects/1056969634/ through to completion, but after that I might have to just say goodbye. I do not consent to the collection or selling of my personal data, and I do not consent to my art being stolen for the sake of people who are too lazy to pick up a pencil and would rather boil the earth and everything on it instead. If another toph dc au chapter is ever released, chances are that I won't make a comic-ified project of it (though that's not to say I'll stop comic-ifying it all together, as I have it elsewhere). Thank you for reading all the way through my ranting, and I'm sorry things had to come to this, it hurts potentially having to leave all this behind. In case nothing changes and I do end up disappearing, you know where to find me (Check inside the project) Update: I don't care that it's supposedly for a "learning assistant" rather than an on-site image generator; at best it's just a thing to dissuade children from thinking for themselves, and at worst Scratch is simply being shady and trying to cover their assets due to the giant outrage from us users, and they'll probably collect our things and either sell em, feed em to an AI, or lose em in a data leak sooner or later. In fact, the way things were worded in their response to our protests implies that, while they're not necessarily feeding our stuff to AI now, they very well may do so in the future. DO. NOT. COMPLY. IN. ADVANCE. If we aren't careful, we'll just boiling frog ourselves into a worse situation. I still stand firmly on the belief that we should leave and bring our human-made creations elsewhere, because what use could Scratch really have from only scanning its own code? I mean seriously. I am sick and tired of AI being shoved in my face everywhere I turn and those behind it acting like we're incapable of the most basic of tasks and therefore "need" it. Scratch has really fallen off, and it sucks, I will not sidestep my morals nor ignore the environmental damages I know are happening every day for a coding site. I don't think I'll remove/unshare anything I've already got posted, as chances are they'll likely use it (if they haven't already done so) regardless, and this account is a sort of time capsule tbh; but I assure you I will likely still leave after the things tying me here are completed, I probably won't return, and I ask you all to please do the same for the sake of your own projects. I will probably release one last project as a goodbye message when the time comes. Again, I can be found elsewhere though, just look in the project, thank you.
