Adobe (Nasdaq: ADBE) is facing backlash from users after an update to its Terms of Service suggested that the company may access user content through manual and automated methods, including machine learning techniques, to improve its services and software.
The update, which went into effect on February 17, 2024, raised concerns among users who feared that their creative work, including confidential and NDA-protected projects, could be used as training data for Adobe’s AI tools without proper credit or compensation.
“Our automated systems may analyze your Content and Creative Cloud Customer Fonts (defined in section 3.10 (Creative Cloud Customer Fonts) below) using techniques such as machine learning in order to improve our Services and Software and the user experience,” it said.
Users of various Adobe applications, such as Photoshop and Substance Painter, expressed their outrage on social media platforms, with some questioning the legality of Adobe’s potential use of their content. The issue has highlighted the ongoing debate surrounding the gathering of training data for AI models and the potential for copyright infringement and privacy violations.
While Adobe has said that it does not use content stored locally on users’ devices and only utilizes publicly shared content for training its algorithms, the vague language used in the updated Terms of Service has left many users skeptical.
The company’s AI model, Firefly, which generates images and powers other AI features, has already faced criticism for potentially using unauthorized works in its training data.
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