Adobe’s Update Changes Nothing

Adobe issued a blog post “clarifying” their horrendous new terms of service that allows them to access the work you created in their software at any time. More specifically, they refute the claim that Adobe will train AI on art created by its customers, stating that it would never do such a thing and all that jazz.

The first problem is that I don’t really believe them. Big Tech has already proven that they love nothing more than stealing artists’ work without their consent for use in a technology designed to replace them. They have demonstrated this time and time again. And they all deny that they do, but they do.

The second problem is this: it doesn’t matter what they’re accessing it for, the fact that they can access it is a problem. If they can access it for thumbnails and exports, they can access it to train AI, and there is no law saying they have to tell you. Big Tech has not given us any reasons to trust them.

I’m still very interested in open source alternatives, and I’m still angry with Adobe about this. In my opinion, no tech company should be allowed to do anything that affects its users without running it by Cory Doctorow.