AI Scrapes 1 in 5 Creators' Work, Fueling Fake Aboriginal Art Sales

1 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Nov 1

Searches on Temu, Shein and Amazon found numerous works marketed as Aboriginal paintings or products with Aboriginal-style designs, often without artist attribution, intensifying concerns that AI is stripping First Nations art of authenticity and control.
Sally Scales, chair of the National Gallery of Australia’s First Nations advisory group, called the practice a theft of cultural knowledge, saying AI-generated imitations erase artists’ lineage, lived experience and agency.
UNSW law professor Kathy Bowrey said the risk is sharper for Indigenous creators because licensed images or artworks can later be repurposed by AI without consent, leaving artists to compete against derivative copies.
Nava told a parliamentary AI inquiry that scraping Indigenous art centre websites, removing names and altering works is already causing cultural and economic harm, while broader fears center on misuse of sacred or community-specific knowledge.
Bowrey and colleague Oliver Bown proposed a Copyright Plus framework requiring AI firms to disclose training data, honor opt-outs and help fund compensation, as the government says it is still consulting on copyright reforms.