As many artists online have shared the experience of seeing their work copied and transformed by social media users through artificial intelligence (A.I.) engines, another artist now joins their ranks after falling victim to the trend, and witnessing his creation repurposed for a different use.

Last May 24, Robert Clark took to his Facebook account to share that he “finally experienced it” for himself, as Spanish science magazine Muy Interesante took his sketch and modified it for their new article, which ironically touched on the very research study Clark had worked on alongside other academics. Apart from being an artist, Clark is a vertebrate paleontologist, biology educator at Marshall University, and a plesiosaur aficionado.

Clark had been a contributor for the said study centered on the new name given to a British Columbian plesiosaur being the Trakasaura sandrae, or the “official provincial fossil of British Columbia.” He mentioned in his post that he was a coauthor and artist in the demonstration of the said species. 

Robert Clark’s original work:

His original design evidently contained his watermark, as seen on the bottom right of the image. 

Clark published this announcement last May 23 in attempts of encouraging his followers to read their paper, only to speak on the matter just a day later to share his discovery that his work had been copied and modified. 

Clark prompted his followers to avoid the reproduction and promotion of the modified work, and voiced that the A.I.-generated image was a “cheap imitation.” He additionally pointed out the misinterpretation of the species’ body parts, and concluded that the alterations that had been morphed was a “completely incorrect” depiction of plesiosaurs.

While Muy Intersante originally posted their article together with the featured image replication last May 23, they published the article a second time around last May 29, only this time, 2 comments called them out for their doing. 

Both articles from Muy Interesante are still public today, and no response has been voiced on the matter from their end. 

To know more about Clark and his coauthors’ findings on the Trakasaura sandrae, visit the link. 

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