iPad app Procreate rejects AI path of competitors, says ‘your work belongs to you’

AI is all the rage these days, with apps and services adopting some form of AI technology all the time. Apple is doing the same with its upcoming Apple Intelligence features. But some creative apps are pushing back, including the popular iPad app Procreate which says, “AI is not our future.”

Procreate’s creator-friendly stance against generative AI

Over the weekend, Procreate launched a new page on its website to highlight its stance on AI and user privacy. The page lists three key commitments the app is making:

• No generative AI: We deeply respect your hard-earned skills.
• Your work belongs to you: We do not have access to your art, by design.
• We take pride in privacy: Your activity is not tracked in our apps.

The page also features the beautiful quote, “Creativity is made, not generated” accompanying the company’s reasons for this stance.

Generative AI is ripping the humanity out of things. Built on a foundation of theft, the technology is steering us toward a barren future. We think machine learning is a compelling technology with a lot of merit, but the path generative AI is on is wrong for us.

We’re here for the humans. We’re not chasing a technology that is a moral threat to our greatest jewel: human creativity. In this technological rush, this might make us an exception or seem at risk of being left behind. But we see this road less travelled as the more exciting and fruitful one for our community.

Procreate’s CEO James Cuda reiterates on X that the company will not be introducing generative AI into its products.

Procreate has been one of the most popular and powerful creative tools on the iPad for years. Apple has regularly featured it on the App Store and in various media events.

At a time when other tools like Adobe’s Creative Cloud are going all-in on AI, Procreate is now positioning itself as the AI-free tool for creators.

9to5Mac’s Take

It will be interesting to see over time whether this stance can hold true without providing a disservice to Procreate users. The current creative complications raised by AI are obvious, but past the initial AI gold rush, we’ll see whether companies find ways to implement AI that are less of a threat to creators and with more privacy measures in place.

What’s your stance on AI in creative tools? Let us know in the comments.

Image source: Procreate