ArtStation has turned on NoAI by default for all uploads, marking new and existing work as unavailable for AI training. The move, announced this week by new owner KitBash, addresses a long-standing demand from digital artists who saw their portfolios buried under a flood of AI-generated images. The platform is also working with Cloudflare to block known AI scrapers, though it acknowledges no system can make publicly shared work impossible to scrape.
The policy shift comes a month after Epic Games sold ArtStation to KitBash, the company behind 3D asset platforms KitBash3D and Greyscalegorilla. Artists had one clear message for the new owner: protect human work and stop AI content from overwhelming discovery. The opt-in approach to AI training-requiring users to actively choose to make work available-contrasts with platforms like Instagram, where users must navigate settings to opt out, if the option exists in their region at all.
The limits of labels and filters
ArtStation already had a #CreatedWithAI label and filtering tools, but the company now says those measures are not enough. The volume of generated content has made it harder for artists to be found and for recruiters to evaluate portfolios. "AI-assisted workflows are varied, so one simple rule won't solve discovery. But complexity cannot become an excuse for inaction," the company said on its blog. "We don't have every answer yet. We want to get this right, and we want the community involved as we work through it."
Work is underway on new discovery tools that give artists more control and prevent generated content from drowning out professional work. The company said search engines will continue to index ArtStation so that artists' work remains discoverable online, even as anti-scraping measures tighten.
The question ArtStation won't answer
For some artists, the solution seems simpler. "Feels like trying to have it both ways," one artist responded on X. "Would love to know why you guys are choosing to allow AI content on the platform. Is it for numbers? Subscriptions? Banning AI would solve the Human artist discovery issue and have less logistics on your side. So why?"
ArtStation replied but sidestepped the core question: "We hear you, and we agree that the current tools are not enough to keep AI-generated content from burying human work. ArtStation is now part of the KitBash family, and we are working through how to handle complex workflows without hurting artists." The response did not explain why an outright ban on AI-generated content is off the table.
What ArtStation is
Founded in 2014 by Leonard Teo and Kevin Strike, ArtStation grew into one of the most popular online communities for digital artists to showcase portfolios. Film studios, game developers, and agencies use it to find talent. Epic Games bought the platform in 2021, and it now sits alongside Sketchfab under KitBash, which plans to integrate its 3D asset libraries to build an expanded ecosystem for creators.
Why this matters for creatives
The default NoAI setting shifts the burden from individual artists having to police their own work to platforms taking responsibility at scale. For working professionals whose portfolios double as their primary source of client leads, the change reduces the risk that their style gets absorbed into training datasets without consent. The ongoing debate over whether to ban AI art entirely also signals a broader tension: platforms that host both human and generated work must decide whether coexistence is possible, or whether discovery algorithms will always favor volume over craft. Professionals navigating this landscape may want to understand how generative tools work-not just to use or avoid them, but to make informed decisions about where and how to share their work. Resources on generative art and AI for creatives can help build that literacy without the hype.
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