Midjourney’s intolerance of nudity is anti-art

If A.I. art is here to stay, the censorship must be addressed

“The body always expresses the spirit whose envelope it is. And for him who can see, the nude offers the richest meaning.” —Auguste Rodin

“Nudity is a problem for Americans. It disrupts our social exchange.” —Eric Fischl

Have you heard of Midjourney? If not, don’t click away until you read the next sentence. Midjourney is the name of one of several popular AI art generators. It uses machine learning to create images from descriptive text prompts. It is a popular tool among some artists (and wannabe artists), but also hotly disavowed by others. While there are many valid arguments to be had about many different facets of this technology, let me just state up front that this article is not seeking to weigh in on the ethical implications of AI art. We believe that regardless of how we feel about it, this technology is here to stay. Instead, this article aims to examine and challenge the inherent biases of Midjourney's AI platform and the implications of its anti-nudity policies for artists…