Sci-Fi Valley Con, a popular Sci-Fi convention that takes place in Altoona this weekend, is implementing a new policy banning vendors from selling AI-generated artwork.
Casey Bassett, the owner and promoter of Sci-Fi Valley Con, said most people seem to support the policy, but he has had to refund some vendors who decided not to attend because they were planning to sell AI-produced work.
Bassett said he’s heard some joking comments about how the organizers of a science fiction convention should support AI.
“And I'm like, ‘Did you not take any of the literature or the actual meanings of most of the Sci Fi movies or books or whatever?' I was like, ‘It usually doesn't end good for the humans in most of the literature about AI,'" Bassett said.
Bassett said he’s worried about AI taking jobs, the technology’s impact on the environment and the authenticity of using it for creative purposes. He’s hoping convention guests will help report AI artwork, although he says it’s getting harder to identify, for example in the character pins and stickers a vendor might sell.
“I have no doubt that there are probably people testing the limits and slipping in one AI pin out of a thousand to see how many of these AI-generated pins we can get away with," Bassett said.
Bassett created an app that he’s rolling out for this weekend’s convention. One of the features on that app is to report suspected AI artwork. Bassett said his team will speak to reported vendors and potentially ask them to put away any suspected AI-generated work.
Bassett expects between 6,000-8,000 people to attend this weekend’s convention.
Conventions nationwide grapple with AI use
Sci-Fi Valley Con isn't the first of its kind in the nation to implement a policy banning vendors from selling AI-generated artwork, and Bassett said some conventions go further.
“I know at some conventions they have they have asked (artists) to provide proof of their production of their work," Bassett said. "Artists are going to have to take pictures of their process throughout creating some of their work to prove at some point that, no, my work actually is human-made and not generative AI. And, you know, that puts an additional burden, probably, onto some of these folks."
Some actors who attend pop culture conventions, including Sci-Fi Valley Con, say they'll no longer go to conventions that don't regulate the use of AI.
Grey DeLisle is known for her roles as Daphne in Scooby Doo, Vicky from The Fairly Odd Parents, Azula from The Last Airbender and many other shows and films. She has made several appearances at Sci-Fi Valley Con and said she's relieved to see more event organizers take a stand against AI.
"I can't even count on two hands the amount of cons who have... I think it's probably about 12 cons now that have asked someone to leave. You know, they realized that their art was all AI and so they asked them to leave," DeLisle said.
DeLisle said she commissioned one artist at a convention for a Daphne picture and paid $600, only to later find out the art was AI-generated. She contested the charge on PayPal and got a refund when the artist couldn't prove it was his work.
DeLisle said AI is impacting her work as a voice actor, as well.
"There's a guy that's selling my voice and he has a subscription where you can have access to 100 of your favorite voice actors for this amount of money per month," DeLisle said. "SAG isn't really doing much about it. I've contacted my agent, but she's so overwhelmed that she can't really do anything about it."
The SAG-AFTRA union, which represents about 160,000 media professionals, is calling on Congress to pass the NO FAKES Act, which would establish individual property right over one’s own voice and likeness.
