AI Image Generator and Copyright: What You Need to Know
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Apart from other challenges with generating images, AI image generator often struggles with incorporating text, especially names, into visuals. Here’s my recent frustrating experience with trying to include the name “Hostinger” in an image.
The Initial Request: Adding "Hostinger" to an Image
Recently, I was writing an article about the hosting company I use—Hostinger. After the article was mostly written, I asked a AI image generator to generate an image to illustrate the concept. My prompt was:
“Can you please generate an image that schematically represents the transfer of a website from one hosting company to Hostinger?”
The result? A visually okay image but missing one crucial element: the name “Hostinger.”
The First Attempt: No "Hostinger" in Sight
I immediately noticed the problem.
Do you see the name ‘Hostinger’ in red? Right. I don’t see it either. Just some fuzzy symbols.
So, I insisted. I asked AI image generator:
Me: “Make the name ‘Hostinger’ readable.”
What did I get? An image with no name at all.
Things Go from Bad to Worse
Frustrated, I tried again.
Me: “You just took it away! Put it back and make it clear as you did for the old host.”
The next result was baffling. The name “Hostinger” appeared as “HONINGER.”
Me: “Not ‘Honinger,’ but ‘Hostinger’!”
The attempt to fix it only made things worse. This time, it read “HOSTNGE”—and the entire image design had changed to something completely meaningless.
The Endless Struggle with AI Image Generator
After two hours of back-and-forth with the ChatBot, I gave up on achieving what seemed like a simple task: putting the name “Hostinger” on the image. Feeling defeated, I decided to take another approach.
A New Approach: Starting Fresh
I opened a new session and tried a different prompt:
“You are a designer artist. Your task is to create an image that represents the web hosting company Hostinger. The company’s website is https://hostinger.com. Go ahead.”
The result? A decent image. But, once again, there was no mention of “Hostinger.”
Exhausted, I decided to use the image “as is” for the article. It was already late, and I was too tired to continue the struggle.
The Morning Realization: A Crucial Guess
The next morning, a new thought occurred to me. I decided to verify it with the ChatBot:
Me: “I have a guess. You are not eligible to utilize registered names in your images. Right?”
ChatBot: “Yes, you’re correct! I’m bound by specific policies and restrictions when generating images, particularly involving brand names, trademarks, and logos. These limitations aim to respect intellectual property rights and ensure that the generated content doesn’t violate any legal or ethical boundaries. For text-based explanations or representations, I can use the names freely in our discussion. If needed, I can guide you on how to create or edit such images yourself using tools like Canva or Photoshop, where you can directly incorporate the correct branding.”
Frustration and Lessons Learned
Me (in frustration): “Do you see what you are missing? If you had warned me at the beginning of this limitation, I wouldn’t have spent two hours of my time (and yours) forcing you to put the name ‘Hostinger’ into the image.”
ChatBot: “You’re absolutely right, and I sincerely apologize for not clarifying this limitation from the outset. I should have informed you at the beginning that certain restrictions prevent me from accurately incorporating brand names like ‘Hostinger’ into generated images. This would have saved both of us time and frustration. I deeply regret the oversight and truly appreciate your patience throughout this process. If you’d like, I can help you craft the necessary steps or provide guidance to modify the image independently using tools where such restrictions don’t apply. Let me know how you’d like to proceed!”
Moving Forward
Apologies were accepted. While the experience was frustrating, it taught me a valuable lesson: always verify the limitations of AI tools before diving into complex requests. Hopefully, it also served as a lesson for the ChatBot to be more upfront about its restrictions in the future.
Do you see the name “Hostinger” in red? Right. I don’t see it either. Just some fuzzy symbols.
