FASO Promises AI Protection for Artist Websites

FASO, a website hosting service for artists, has announced an AI protection feature that automatically blocks AI bots from scraping artists' images to train generative models like DALL-E, Midjourney, and ChatGPT. The company, founded by Clint Watson, uses machine learning to identify and block both known and unknown AI scrapers, even when they disguise themselves as legitimate visitors. FASO claims this can reduce unwanted traffic by up to 70%. The service is positioned as a safeguard for artists concerned about their work being used without permission, contrasting with social media platforms that actively train AI on user content. FASO emphasizes its commitment to supporting human artists, promising not to use their images for AI training and to use AI only to protect and promote artists. The announcement includes a call to action for artists to join FASO, which offers a 30-day free trial, and highlights features such as easy website maintenance, built-in marketing, and access to a community of over 60,000 art lovers. The article also features artwork by FASO members Karen Burns and Kathleen Dunphy, illustrating the type of human art FASO aims to protect.