Pixelated graphics. A visible robot watermark. A five-legged wolf. These are the details that internet sleuths uncovered in a piece of canvas art that’s part of a new Halloween collection from Michaels, leading to speculation that the work was generated by artificial intelligence.
In a TikTok that now has more than 330,000 likes, creator Jack Valentine takes a trip to the store to see the art, which depicts a woman in a white gown flanked by three wolves. He explains the reasons why customers have speculated that the image may have been created using AI, including the most apparent one: The print has a visible watermark and logo belonging to the site Freepik, which is an AI design tool.
“This is so disappointing,” Valentine tells viewers. “It’s also so obvious. As a store that specializes in selling art supplies and has a customer base of artists, you should be supporting real artists.”
Fast Company reached out to Michaels to find out whether the work is, in fact, AI generated—and to ask whether Michaels has been using AI more generally as a tool during product development.
“This artwork was purchased from a vendor who licensed the original source material from an artist,” the company answered in a statement via email. “Without our knowledge, the vendor added an AI-generated layer to the image. This is an unacceptable error that we are addressing by removing the product from our website and stores, and offering refunds to any customers who purchased it. Michaels will always support artists and will be taking steps to prevent this from happening again in the future.”
We followed up to clarify how the store’s vendor process works and whether it includes guidelines around AI use, but didn’t receive specific details by the time of publication. According to the company’s website, “Michaels Marketplace invites third-party resellers, distributors, and brands to seamlessly list their product catalog alongside existing assortment on Michaels.com.”
Michaels owns an Etsy-esque platform called MakerPlace, which specializes in handmade goods. It has its own in-house design team, including a pod of 17 trend-focused designers. Michaels also works with outside vendors who supply goods and artwork. It’s unclear how much control Michaels has over how its vendors produce their products.
A bigger AI backlash
While Michaels was working to remove the wolf canvas art from its website and stores, the topic began to gain steam on TikTok, leading to a new batch of videos digging into the rest of the company’s fall catalog. One user analyzed some canvas prints of spooky houses, arguing that details like asymmetry and unusual stylization point to AI use, and another found prints of candles, a cat, and a witch that she believed to be computer-generated.
Fast Company circled back to Michaels for additional clarification on these examples.
“As the largest arts and crafts retailer in North America, Michaels will always support and prioritize artists in all the mediums they use to create,” the company responded in a statement. “This artwork was all created by real artists and was licensed for use by the artist and creator of the artwork.”
The backlash against Michaels comes amid a greater discussion of how AI tools should (or shouldn’t) be integrated into creative practices, especially when profit is involved. AI tools are certainly becoming more ubiquitous for digital artists, as features like Adobe Firefly offer advantages for brainstorming new concepts and cutting down on production time. Attempting to stop the wave of AI tech now is a moot point—but calls for transparency around AI usage are getting louder.
Earlier this summer, Etsy committed to adding new tags to products to clarify a seller’s role in the creation process, as well as debuting a series of vaguely anti-AI ads highlighting the importance of human artists. And last month, artists across social media took to labeling their work with a “Created With Human Intelligence” badge to show that human creators won’t be replaced by AI image generators.
Michaels has admitted only to discovering an AI image layer in the wolf print, emphasizing that it “prioritizes artists.” Still, the controversy highlights a deeper worry from the creative community that art-based companies may begin turning to AI without their knowledge. If major craft stores want to maintain customer trust, it may be time to implement clear guidelines and labeling to let buyers know how their purchases were created.