Decentralizing Art: A Deep Dive into Waterlily.ai's Use of FVM and AI

Waterlily.ai is a Filecoin-powered generative AI tool that allows digital artists to distribute their work while addressing the pain point of compensation when their art is used in AI training models.

In the recent episode of The Decentralists, Filecoin Foundations’ Ally Haire and Aaron Stanley delved into the workings of Waterlily, and discussed the way we perceive AI-generated art. Waterlily.ai is not just another generative AI tool; it is a platform that is built on the principles of ethical AI, ensuring that original creators of artwork are compensated for their work.

The tool uses generative AI to create images in the style of some of the world’s greatest artists – from classical artists like Paul Klee and Wassily Kandinsky to post-modernists like Takashi Murakami and Jean-Michel Basquiat.

However, unlike other AI tools that often use pre-existing images without proper attribution or compensation to the original creator, Waterlily.ai implements a new approach. It compensates original creators of artwork with micropayments whenever a user selects their style to create a new Stable Diffusion artwork from a prompt.

Haire explained the function of the Filecoin network and the Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) within the framework of Waterlily.ai. Rather than use AI endpoints to pull data onto the Filecoin network, Waterlily.ai Instead, employs its own stable diffusion scripts and trains unique artist models via Lilypad, which is also used to generate images from prompts. The Filecoin Virtual Machine (FVM) is utilized for payments and on-chain transparency, while Bacalhau is used for decentralized machine learning models and verifiable off-chain computation.

Haire further explained the importance of decentralizing AI, "If we look at decentralized technologies, one of the ways that they are really powerful is that they can reduce costs. So Filecoin itself as a storage network is way cheaper than storing on AWS or some of the equivalent cloud providers, for example. And that's because of the market mechanics, these cryptoeconomics that we've put into the system that matches demand and input."

The conversation concluded with a discussion on the future of AI and its intersection with blockchain. Haire noted, "Obvious NFT are going to be another big thing for AI. I'm sure people are working on things like how do you verify that artwork is yours immediately? I think there's going to be a whole other surge of NFT projects that potentially help with some of these verification or proof of humanity and authenticity models as well."

The two discussed the potential of AI and blockchain in reshaping the art world, highlighting the importance of ethical considerations and the need for original creators to be compensated for their work.

To gain a deeper understanding of the fascinating intersection of AI, blockchain, and art, we encourage you to listen to the full episode of The Decentralists. If you're interested in becoming part of this journey, consider getting involved with Waterlily.ai and the Filecoin network. Both platforms are always looking for passionate individuals who are eager to contribute to the future of AI-generated art and decentralized technologies. To learn more about Allie Haire's work and her contributions to the field, you can follow her on Twitter. Join us in shaping the future of technology, art, and decentralization.