Colopl, developer of the upcoming Kazuma Kaneko’s Tsukuyomi, a game that uses generative AI, released the mobile app Colopl Contents Protector on March 24 for iOS and Android.
As reported by ITMedia, the app is a tool meant to protect images from being used to train generative AI models against creators’ wishes. It’s compatible with JPEG, PNG and GIF files, and based on how it works, it seems to be catered towards people who want to post their artwork or photographs to social media without fear of web scraping.
Running your image through the Colopl Contents Protector will encrypt it, making it appear heavily blurred and grainy, with only rough silhouettes recognizable. Once uploaded online in this state, only other users of Colopl’s app can unlock the original image and view it. Protected images come with a QR code that users of the app can scan to access the image, but authors can also set up passwords and thus allow only select individuals to view their images.
Colopl promises that neither the original images, protected images nor users’ personal information will be sent elsewhere, stored or used for AI learning, as the app itself will only manage the “keys” used for protecting and unlocking images. As for how effective Colopl Contents Protector will actually be in preventing unauthorized learning, the developer says that even if used, protected images have reduced value as learning data, and if someone were to restore them using alternative means, that will clearly constitute “Circumvention of Technological Protection Measures,” giving original creators legal leverage. Colopl aims to monetize the app by running advertisements.
It’s worth nothing that Colopl is a distinctly “pro AI” developer, and this move comes as their attempt to “address the social issues that come with the proliferation of generative AI.” Apart from partnering with Stable Diffusion, the developer also included generative AI in its roguelike deckbuilder Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter (now Kazuma Kaneko’s Tsukuyomi), which has garnered mixed reactions due to issues in quality and suspected infringement.
For those interested, Colopl Contents Protector is available for iOS and Android as of today.
