MICHAELS is under pressure after a buyer discovered the chain is selling what appears to be AI-generated artwork in its Halloween collection.
The controversy arose when Jack Valentine, known on social media as @flippedthrift, shared his discovery of the artwork on TikTok.
3
3
“I saw online this morning that Michaels might be using AI art in their Halloween line,” Valentine said, documenting his visit to the store.
“When I walked in, sure, all of Halloween was over, but there was one piece in particular that I was looking for.”
Valentine’s attention was drawn to a piece of wall decor depicting a spectral bride draped in flowing white robes, surrounded by several white wolves.
He pointed out several flaws in the art, such as blurred background trees and a strange detail of wolves with three front paws.
But the most glaring problem was the presence of clear watermarks.
“Sure enough, clear as day, right at the bottom, you can see a robot logo and also the Freepik logo,” Valentine noted.
Freepik is an AI-powered photo and art generation website.
“This is so disappointing. It’s also so obvious,” Valentine said.
“As a store that specializes in selling art supplies and has a customer base of artists, you should support real artists, Michaels.”
He further expressed his frustration in the video’s caption, writing: “SUPER disappointed in Michael this year…”
Valentine’s discovery sparked a series of reactions from TikTok viewers.
Many were shocked and dismayed by Michaels’ use of AI art.
“MICHAELS NO MICHAELS WHY,” one person wrote.
“It’s not the logo,” said another.
And this incident doesn’t just apply to Michaels.
Previously, Walmart faced similar backlash for allegedly selling AI-generated artwork.
This has sparked widespread debate about the ethics of profiting from the art of AI, especially from multi-million dollar companies.
Some argue that crafting good AI art requires skill and vision, while others believe that the use of AI in art should be ethically scrutinized.
One Redditor defended AI art, stating, “Creating AI art still requires practice, vision, skill, and experience.”
“As far as stealing art from other artists, well, I could go to Fiverr or Deviant Art and commission an OC or design of One Piece, Dragon Ball or fakemon,” they said.
“Artists replicate and use other styles all the time,” they said in their defense.
Another user added that they don’t believe it is inherently unethical.
“It’s a software tool,” they said.
“Does it have unethical uses? Of course. Almost everything too, including traditional art.”
Others called the shift to AI-generated artwork inevitable.
“I KNEW they would start doing this,” one user wrote.
If AI art goes anywhere, it will be in the art pieces sold at Ross, Michaels, HomeGoods, and TJ Maxx,” commented one user.
Another questioned why Michaels wouldn’t just collaborate with real artists.
“As a store that specializes in selling art supplies and has a customer base of artists, you should support real artists, Michaels.”
Jack Valentine, @flippedthrift
“They could easily hire a few artists every year to come up with different themes for Halloween.”
Valentine agreed, saying, “There are literally so many artists dying for work who don’t even demand a huge salary.”
In response to the controversy, Michaels issued a statement apologizing, saying the sale of this art was a mess.
“This artwork was purchased from a vendor who licensed original material from an artist,” Michaels said in a statement.
“Without our knowledge, the vendor added an AI-generated layer to the image,” the network explained.
“This is an unacceptable error that we are correcting by removing the product from our website and stores and offering refunds to all customers who purchased it.”
“Michaels will always support artists and take steps to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
More to follow… For the latest on this story, come back often to The US Sun, your go-to destination for the best celebrity news, sports news, real-life stories, jaw-dropping photos and must-see attractions. videos
Like us on Facebook at TheSunUSA and follow us on X at @TheUSSun
This story originally appeared on The-sun.com read the full story
