Artists fight AI programs that copy their styles

SAN FRANCISCO, April 2 — Artists outraged by artificial intelligence that copies in seconds the styles they have sacrificed years to develop are waging battle online and in court. Fury erupted in the art community last year with the release of generative artificial intelligence (AI) programs that can convincingly carry out commands such as drawing a dog like cartoonist Sarah Andersen would, or a nymph the way illustrator Karla Ortiz might do. Such style-swiping AI works are cranked out without the original artist’s consent, credit or compensation — the three C’s at the heart of a fight to change all…