Nudity and other issues which appear to violate Adobe Generative AI Guidelines [merged thread]

[Starsson]

Hello Adobe and its collective users

I am writing to you not only as a devoted user of Adobe’s suite of creative tools but also as a professional photographer whose work has been recognized and displayed in museum settings. My specialization in classic nudes has allowed me to explore the human form in a manner that celebrates beauty, form, and artistic expression. However, I have encountered a significant challenge with the AI restrictions placed on editing images that contain nudity, even when such images are created within a professional, artistic context.

As an artist whose work often involves nuanced and sensitive subjects, I understand and respect the complexities of creating ethical AI tools that serve a wide user base. However, the current limitations significantly impact my creative process and professional workflow, particularly when it comes to editing backgrounds for nude or semi-nude images. These restrictions not only prolong my work but also inhibit my artistic expression, compelling me to seek alternative solutions that may not offer the same level of quality and integration as Adobe’s products.

I propose the consideration of the following points, which I believe could benefit both Adobe and its professional users:

Artistic Integrity and Professional Use: Recognition of the professional and artistic context in which tools are used can help differentiate between content that is genuinely creative and that which the restrictions aim to prevent.

Ethical Use Policy: An ethical use policy that accommodates professional artists and photographers, possibly through a verification process, ensuring that our work is not unduly censored while maintaining legal and ethical standards.

Custom Solutions for Professionals: The development of specialized software versions that allow more flexibility for editing sensitive content, with appropriate safeguards to prevent misuse.

Feedback and Advisory Panel: Establishing a panel of professionals from the art and photography community to provide ongoing feedback and insights on how Adobe’s tools can better serve creative professionals.

Transparent Guidelines: The creation of clear, transparent guidelines that navigate the legal and ethical landscape, especially regarding sensitive content, to ensure users can understand and comply with Adobe’s policies.

I am fully committed to engaging in a constructive dialogue and am willing to be part of a solution that respects both the creative needs of artists and the ethical considerations of digital content. I believe that by working together, we can find a balanced approach that supports artistic expression while adhering to shared values and responsibilities.

Thank you for considering my perspective on this matter. I am hopeful for an opportunity to discuss this further and explore how we can make Adobe’s tools even more inclusive and accommodating for professional artists and photographers.    Steven Williams 

[Just a normal user]

The AI behind the text to photo needs to be so "woke" as it create images that are both culturally offensive and inappropriate.  The request of traditional Arabic women dressed in traditional Muslim gowns or historically accurate Turkish costumes should not include by default, men with beards crossdressing.  It should also be sensitive to the actual historical appearance of these individuals and not try to be multi-cultural to the point where 75% of images are inappropriate to the request.  This wastes time and resources, making Firefly nearly unusable for anyone on a deadline.  

[Kartika Rawat]

Your insights are valuable; we'll share them with the team. You can refer to a similar discussion: https://adobe.ly/4liAyUo

I hope this helps. Thank you for your feedback on Adobe Firefly.

KR

[Phil34542109ukyf]

Yout BLOCKING creative adult content images whil other programs allow it. Put a waiver up to sign to let us adult artist creat some cool images to sell online im some cases something slips by such as a womans chest God forbid you let us see womans chest on here hey we are adults and you can block kids from creating nip by simply verifying our age ..... oth programs allow it please consider it thanks even Photoshop blocks eciting of a image created in Firefly that may show some skin hey WAKE up it's NOT real skin OMG DISPOINTED in your blocking content 

[Nancy OShea]

@Phil34542109ukyf,

Adobe isn't likely to change their Terms of Use policies. If you want to create adult content, use another approach. Find an AI service that allows adult content creation (I don't know of any).  Or get an AI app on a private platform, to which only you have access.

[nicmart]

It’s NOT just adult content. Adobe censors fully clothed women who are buxom. It has a long list of forbidden things to generate, such as bathing suit and gun. It’s the more strict artistic censorship in American history.

[daniellei4510]

I think that honor goes to ChatGPT. I wanted an image of two children standing in front of an abandoned, post-apocalyptic amusement park, and it refused to generate anything that suggested harm to children.

[AlanGilbertson]

@c.pfaffenbichler You just highlighted a problem with AI, which is that most people don't realize that the term "AI" is almost meaningless because it covers such a broad range of different technologies. (Think how the word "vehicle" covers a moped, an SUV, a semi-truck, and a SpaceX Dragon. They have some technologies in common, but they are very different.)

Google Deep Mind solved the protein folding problem some years ago using a specific AI technology that grew out of their machine learning research. Co-founder and CEO of Google DeepMind, Sir Demis Hassabis, and Google DeepMind Senior Research Scientist Dr. John Jumper, who led the development team, were co-awarded the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for that breakthrough. Yes, it is a kind of AI, an advanced type of machine learning, but should not be conflated with the technology behind Firefly or Adobe Sensei, just as you wouldn't conflate Toyota engineering with SpaceX engineering.

I know that probably seems picky, but it's important. "AI" is everywhere. Not all of it is real. We all have to understand what it is we're dealing with or we'll be swamped.

[Nancy OShea]

"I wanted an image of two children standing in front of an abandoned, post-apocalyptic amusement park..."

Divide and conquer.  Generate the children as a separate image. Then generate the amusement park. 

Combine the two manually with traditional compositing techniques.

[daniellei4510]

I'd run out of my four daily freebies by the time ChatGPT came close to getting in right. 🙂 I'm still not convinced I want to drop $20 for it.

[warm_vibrancy0406]

Duh, it's not adult content when a man or woman in a bathing costume is
standing at a bar in the Bahamas.

[Nancy OShea]

"Duh, it's not adult content when a man or woman in a bathing costume is
standing at a bar in the Bahamas. "

Maybe where you live... In other parts of the world, the decency police would disagree. 🙄

[tonya20624874]

Then start using different guidelines for differeant area's.   

[AlanGR]

Yup, as you said, it's not just nudity at all. I had been trying to create events from my life, like during my infantry training almost 50 years ago. For example, an innocuous scene of a group of us 18 year old guys, running on an old airstrip before dawn, shirtless and wearing olive green PE shorts and tennis shoes. Wouldn't do it at all and told me I was trying to do something against the community standards - absolutely ridiculious. In the infantry, we often did things shirtless but, as soon as I used the term "shirtless" bells and whistles go off and it would not do it. I gave up on Firefly in late 2023 as it was too frustrating. MJ has similar issues but not quite as bad. I tried Adobe's product again about 2 months ago and still had bad results with people so I'm not overly impressed.

[tonya20624874]

Then provide different guidelines for different parts of the world.  

[Nancy OShea]

If you want an app that lets you do whatever you want, you'll need to create one.

There are AI app builders available to help you. But you'll need a decent sized database of images to use for training because AI can't create something from nothing.  98% of Firefly is the quality & quantity of its source material, culled from curated Adobe Stock assets.

Incidentally, Adobe Stock does not accept nudity or other adult content.

https://helpx.adobe.com/stock/contributor/help/submission-guidelines.html

[Dario de Judicibus]

So, the solution is not to look for other AI apps, but to look for
alternatives to Photoshop. Why I should buy a product from a company that
pretends to tell me which MUST be my culture and my values?

--
Dario de Judicibus, Rome, Italy (EU)

[Nancy OShea]

"So, the solution is to look for alternatives to Photoshop."

==============

This topic is about Firefly, Adobe's AI image generating app.

Photoshop is first & foremost an image editor, and a very good one. You can use Photoshop to manually create whatever you want without AI.  Or you can combine it with other tools to create whatever you want. The possibilities are unlimited providing you have the talent & skills to do it.

[Dario de Judicibus]

Well, Photoshop includes Firefly AI capabilities now.
--
Dario de Judicibus, Rome, Italy (EU)

[Nancy OShea]

"Photoshop includes Firefly AI capabilities now."

===========

At this moment, it does, but that could change. Historically, new features in Photoshop come & go. This happened with Image Ready, web page builders and 3D graphics tools— all gone now.  At its core, Photoshop is still an image editor.

If your sole interest is AI, you can use Firefly and/or other generative AI services without Photoshop.

https://firefly.adobe.com

[DCrom]

Totally agree. Make it stop😞

[Giuseppe33210521xyqi]

paint over the offending body parts and export a copy of the image, then use the copy to extend the background and finally use the extended background with the original image. I found that if you do that with layers within the same image, sometimes it still doesn't work for me, so this workaround so far did the job.

[nicmart]

Workarounds are to Adobe censorship what bootlegging was to alcohol prohibition. A very poor solution.

[leonardo_da_rocha_1726]

My name is Leonardo, I’m a graphic designer currently working on chapters of a horror book. During the free trial last year, I was able to generate images of demons, eerie scenes, and similar content without any major issues. However, the current filters in the Generative Fill tool have become so strict that it’s honestly… a bit frightening.

• Unnecessary content censorship
  Beach photos featuring people in swimsuits or shirtless are being flagged as nudity and blocked, which is disrupting my creative workflow.
• Annual subscription underdelivering
  I subscribed to the annual Firefly plan to fully explore the tool’s potential, but these constant restrictions are making it difficult to use the product effectively.
• Compared to other AI tools
  Other image generation platforms can distinguish context and appropriateness much more accurately — I truly hope Firefly can match the standard Adobe is known for.

I kindly ask the product team to reconsider and adjust the content moderation filters, finding a better balance between safety and the creative freedom artists rely on (after all, I’m not trying to summon real demons… just illustrate them digitally!).

Thank you in advance for your attention — I’m happy to provide examples or further feedback if needed.

Sincerely,

Leonardo

Graphic Designer

[Dave28161132d2ux]

Giuseppe, thanks for the work around.  That's good for the interim.  Nicmart is right though.  Adobe has become some kind of moral  judgement machine.  In the past, I'd have thought they'd lead the way in navigating through the obstacles of censorship.  Not so.  They are an immensely profitable company well suited to take the hit of a lawsuit or two, bide their time if they get cancelled for something, or blast full force and take over the visual AI industry.  They are just a board of directors who made $5 billion alone last year.  These non-artistic,  emotionless, cowardly, risk adverse entities don't want to gamble on that.  Sad.

[Abambo]

They are an immensely profitable company well suited to take the hit of a lawsuit or two, bide their time if they get cancelled for something, or blast full force and take over the visual AI industry. 

By @Dave28161132d2ux 

I once had a seminar, where one of our lawyers gave us an overview of the legal situation of websites and corporate property. One of his remarks that sticked was: "Before we sue someone, we check if he has money. Without money, there is no incentive to sue them.". In other words: a wealthy company with a lot of cash and operations around the world is much more susepticle to get hit by a lawsuit than a poor company operating only in one small corner of the world. 

And in many situations, companies can be hit with high penalties of a percentage of their world wide turnover.