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znihilist t1_j6uy7z0 wrote

I think people are using words and disagreeing on conclusions without agreeing first on what is exactly meant by those words.

I am not sure that everyone is using the word "memorize" the same. I think those who use it in the context of defense, are saying that those images are no where to be found in the model itself. It is just a function that takes words as an input and outputs a picture. Is the model memorizing the training data if it can recreate it? I don't know, but my initial intuition tells me there is a difference between memorizing and pattern recreation, even if they aren't easily distinguishable in this particular scenario.

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znihilist t1_j6uz705 wrote

If you have a set of pair numbers: (1,1)..(2,3.95)..(3,9.05)..(4, 16.001)..etc These can be fitted with x^2, but x^2 does not contain anywhere the four pairs of numbers, but can recreate them to a certain degree of precision if you try to guess the x values.

Is f(x) = x^2 memorizing the inputs or just able to recreate them because they are in the possible outcome space?

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Ronny_Jotten t1_j6wsav3 wrote

If I remember your face, does my brain contain your face? Can your face be found anywhere inside my brain? Or has my brain created a sort of close-fit formula, embodied in connections of neurons, that can reproduce it to a certain degree of precision? If the latter, does that mean that I haven't memorized your face, even though I can draw a pretty good picture of it?

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visarga t1_j6x0qcm wrote

I think their argument goes like this - when you encode an image to JPEG the actual image is replaced by DCT coefficients and reconstruction is only approximate. That doesn't make the image free of copyright.

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znihilist t1_j6xa0o3 wrote

My point is more to the fact that f(x) doesn't have 3.95 in it anywhere. Because another option would be to write f(x) as -(x-2)(x-3)(x-4)*1/6 -(x-1)(x-3)(x-4)*3.95/2 -(x-1)(x-2)(x-4)*9.05/2 + (x-1)(x-2)(x-3)*16.001/6 this recreates the original points, plug in 1 and you get -(-1)(-2)(-3)*1/6 -(0)(-2)(-3)*3.95/2 -(0)(-1)(-3)*9.05/2 + (0)(-1)(-2)*16.001/6 which is just 1.

This version of f(x) has "memorized" the inputs and is written as a direct function of these inputs, versus x^2 which has nothing in it that is retraced to the original inputs. Both of these functions are able to recreate the original inputs. Although one to infinite precision (RMSE = 0) and the other to an RMSE of ~0.035.

I think intuitively we recognize that these two functions are not the same even beyond their obvious differences (first is a 4th order power function, and the other is a 2nd order power function), either way. Point is, I think "memorize" while applicable in both cases, one stores a copy and the other is able to recreate from scratch, and I believe they do mean different things in their legal implications.

Also, I think it is very interesting the divide on this from a philosophical point of view, and with the genie being out of the bottle, then beside strong societal change and pressure that genie is never going back to the bottle.

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Ronny_Jotten t1_j6wrlvv wrote

I think pretty much everyone would have to agree that the brain - the original neural network - can memorize and reproduce images, though never 100% exactly. That's literally what we mean by the word memorize: to create a representation of something in a biological neural network in a way that it can be recalled and reproduced.

Can those pictures be found somewhere inside the brain, can you open a skull and point to them? Or is it just a function of neuronal connections that outputs such a picture? Is there "a difference between memorizing and pattern recreation"? It sounds like a "how many angels can dance on the head of a pin" sort of question that's not worth spending a lot of time on.

I don't think anyone should be surprised that an artificial neural network can exhibit a similar kind of behaviour, and that for convenience we would call it by the same word: "memorizing". I'm not saying that every single image is memorized, any more than I have memorized every image I've ever seen. But I do remember some very well - especially if I've seen them many times.

Some say that AIs "learn" from the images they "see", but somehow they refuse to say that they "memorize" too. If they're going to make such anthropomorphic analogies, it seems a bit selective, if not hypocritical.

The extent to which something is memorized, or the differences in qualities and how it takes place in an artificial vs. organic neural network, is certainly something to be discussed. But if you want to argue that it's not truly memorizing, like the argument that ANNs don't have true intelligence, well, ok... but that's also a kind of "no true Scotsman" argument that's a bit meaningless.

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visarga t1_j6x1uwy wrote

> The extent to which something is memorized ... is certainly something to be discussed.

One in a million chance of memorisation even when you're actively looking for them is not worth discussing about.

> We select the 350,000 most-duplicated examples from the training dataset and generate 500 candidate images for each of these prompts (totaling 175 million generated images). We find 109 images are near-copies of training examples.

On the other hand, these models compress billions of images into a few GB. There is less than 1 byte on average per input example, there's no space to have significant memorisation. Probably why there were only 109 memorised images found.

I would say I am impressed there were so few of them, if you use a blacklist for these images you can be 100% sure the model is not regurgitating training data verbatim.

I would suggest the model developers remove these images from the training set and replace them with variations generated with the previous model so they only learn the style and not the exact composition of the original. Replacing originals with variations - same style, different composition, would be a legitimate way to avoid close duplication.

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SulszBachFramed t1_j6wa7ii wrote

You can make the same argument about lossy compression. Am I really infringing on copyright if I record an episode of House, re-encode it and redistribute it? It's not the 'original' episode, but a lossy copy of it. What if I compress it in a zip file and distribute that? In that case, I am only sharing something that can imperfectly recreate the original. The zip file itself does not resemble a video at all.

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Ronny_Jotten t1_j6wndrm wrote

The test for copyright infringment is whether it's "substantially similar", not "exactly the same".

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SulszBachFramed t1_j6wp97b wrote

Right, hence why its relevant to large models trained on huge datasets. If the model can reconstruct data such that it is substantially similar to the original, then we have a problem. Whether from the viewpoint of copyright infringement or privacy law (gdpr).

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znihilist t1_j6xcp1i wrote

Good point, but the way I see it these two things look very similar but don't end up being similar in the way we thought or wanted. Compression takes one input and generates an output, the object (the file if you want) is only one thing, an episode of house. We'd argue that both versions are loosely identical, just differ in the underlying presentation (their 0's and 1's are different but they render the same object). Also, that object can't generate another episode of house (that aired a day early), or a none existing episode of house that he takes over the world, or where he's a Muppet. As the diffusion models don't have a copy, then the comparison falls on that particular aspect as none-applicable.

I do think, the infringement aspect is going to end up being by the user and not by the tool. Akin to how just because your TV can play pirated content, we assign the blame on the user and not the manufacturer of the TV. So it may end up being that creating these models is fine, but if you recreate something copyrighted, then that will be on you.

Either way, this is going to be one interesting supreme court decision (because I think it is definitely going there).

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JigglyWiener t1_j6xy6ys wrote

Infringing content can be created with any number of tools and we don’t sue photoshop for not detecting someone trying to alter images of what is clearly Mickey Mouse. We sue the person when they are making money off of the sale of copyrighted material.

It’s not worth chasing copyright for Pennies

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Ronny_Jotten t1_j6yenlh wrote

Adobe doesn't ship Photoshop with a button that produces an image of Mickey Mouse. They would be sued by Disney. The AI models do. They are not the same. It seems unlikely that Disney will find it "not worth chasing"; they spend millions defending their intellectual property.

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JigglyWiener t1_j6yxwhz wrote

The models don’t come with buttons that do anything. They are tools capable only of what the software developers permit to enter the models and what users request.

If we go down the road of regulating training and capacity to do x, you’ll have to file lawsuits against every artist on behalf of every copyright holder over the IP inside the artist’s head.

These cases are going to fall apart and copyright holders are going to go after platforms that don’t put reasonable filters in place.

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Ronny_Jotten t1_j6z9axn wrote

> The models don’t come with buttons that do anything. They are tools capable only of what the software developers permit to enter the models and what users request.

If you prompt an AI with "Mickey Mouse" - no more effort than clicking a button - you'll get an image of Mickey Mouse that violates intellectual property laws. The image, or the instructions for producing it, is contained inside the model, because many copyrighted images were digitally copied into the training system by the organization that created the model. It's just not remotely the same thing as someone using the paintbrush tool in Photoshop to draw a picture of Mickey Mouse themselves.

> If we go down the road of regulating training and capacity to do x, you’ll have to file lawsuits against every artist on behalf of every copyright holder over the IP inside the artist’s head.

I don't think you have a grasp of copyright law. That is a tired and debunked argument. Humans are allowed to look at things, and remember them. Humans are not allowed to make copies of things using a machine - including loading digital copies into a computer to train an AI model - unless it's covered by a fair use exemption. Humans are not the same as machines, in the law, or in reality.

> These cases are going to fall apart

I don't think they will. Especially for the image-generating AIs, it's going to be difficult to prove fair use in the training, if the output is used to compete economically with artists or image owners like Getty, whose works have been scanned in, and affect the market for that work. That's one of the four major requirements for fair use.

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maxToTheJ t1_j6x4dc8 wrote

Thats a bad argument . MP3s are compressed versions for the original file for many songs so the original isn’t exactly in the MP3 until the decompression is applied. Would anybody argue that since a transformation is applied in the form of a decompression algo that Napster was actually in the clear legally

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znihilist t1_j6x5c0y wrote

MP3 can recreate only the original version. They can't recreate other songs that has never been created or thought of. Compression only relates to one input and one output exactly. As such, this comparison falls apart when you apply it to these models.

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maxToTheJ t1_j6yo1eq wrote

> They can't recreate other songs that has never been created or thought of.

AFAIK having a not copyrighting violating use doesnt excuse a copyright violating use.

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znihilist t1_j6z78wg wrote

That's beside the point, my point is that the MP3 compression comparison doesn't work, so that line of reasoning isn't applicable. Whether one use can excuse another isn't part of the argument.

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maxToTheJ t1_j6zy5z8 wrote

>That's beside the point,

It does for the comment thread which was about copyright

> my point is that the MP3 compression comparison doesn't work,

It does for the part that is actually the point (copyright law).

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znihilist t1_j704b3j wrote

>> That's beside the point,

> It does for the comment thread which was about copyright

It doesn't, as this is issue has not been decided by courts or laws yet, and opinion seems to be evenly divided. So this is circular logic.

>> my point is that the MP3 compression comparison doesn't work,

> It does for the part that is actually the point (copyright law).

You mentioned MP3 (compressed versions) as comparable in functionality, and my argument is about how they are not similar in functionality, so the conclusion doesn't follow as they are not comparable in that analysis. Compression not absolving copyright infringement doesn't lead to the same thing being concluded for diffusion models. As you asserted that, you need to show show compression and diffusion follow the same functionality for that comparison to work. That's like if I say that it isn't illegal that I can look at a painting and then go home and have vivid images of that painting therefore diffusion models are not doing any infringement, that would be fallacious and wrong, functionality doesn't follow, the same for MP3 example.

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maxToTheJ t1_j70et3o wrote

>You mentioned MP3 (compressed versions) as comparable in functionality,

Facepalm. For the identity part not the whole thing.

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