AI: Not Like This

Artists have never been opposed to new technology or tools that improve our workflow and that is not the issue. The scale and intensity of the backlash to the introduction of AI "art" should be a clear indication that something else is wrong.
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We are taking a stand against the unethical use of our hard work, thousands of hours of our individual labor, taken without our permission to train software built to replace or at least bypass us. Let's be clear: AI "art" generators were not built for artists. We can use it as a tool certainly, but that's merely a byproduct of what it's intended to do. This is clear not only in who primarily uses and promotes it but also in how it was made. We never asked for our craft to become automated in this way, much less agreed to have our work be used for it.
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ArtStation can not afford to let AI art flood its website and marketplace and push artists to the side like this. Not only is it deeply insulting to us, the people this platform's existence has always depended on, but it also destroys the integrity and primary purpose of the platform.
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Along with other stances or a lack thereof that ArtStation has taken recently, on NFTs, on art regarding the invasion of Ukraine, I have lost faith in AS as a platform that has our best interests in mind. As such, until they demonstrate otherwise, I have taken down my gallery and will leave this as my final contribution.
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Artists: Stay strong, support one another and keep on making art. The world needs your voices even if it doesn't always seem to care or understand why.