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AI is stealing Indigenous Australian art and churning out ‘Temu slop’, artist says

AI is taking First Nations art and turning it into “Temu slop”, the Pitjantjatjara artist Sally Scales has said. Scales, the chair of the National Gallery of Australia’s First Nations advisory group, said the technology is undermining the agency of First Nations artists and the authenticity of their work and represents a “a theft” of cultural knowledge. Despite prime minister Anthony Albanese’s vow to protect Australian creatives from copyright theft, and the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, saying there are…

By the Truvace desk2 min read1 sourceEvidence: Emerging · 42/100 — News report · 1 independent sourceJournalismTRV-2026-2327· cite & verify
AI is stealing Indigenous Australian art and churning out ‘Temu slop’, artist says

In brief

Pitjantjatjara artist Sally Scales, who chairs the National Gallery of Australia's First Nations advisory group, says AI is turning First Nations art into low-quality imitations. She calls it a theft of cultural knowledge and of artists' agency, and says it empties the work of lineage and lived experience.

The concerns come as Australia's government says it will protect creatives but has not settled on copyright changes. Experts warn that Indigenous cultural and intellectual property is especially exposed, and the proposals for reform are still only proposals, with outcomes uncertain.

Main points

  1. Searches on Temu, Shein and Amazon reveal many works described as Aboriginal paintings, mostly without attribution to any artist.
  2. The National Association for the Visual Arts told a parliamentary inquiry that AI scraping has removed artists' names and altered their work.
  3. A UNSW Law expert described clients paying once for artwork, then using AI to repurpose images and artists' faces without consent.
  4. Proposed Copyright Plus framework would require disclosure of data sources, opt-out rights, an AI levy and takedown notices.

The problem

AI scraping and imitation of Indigenous art strips artists' names, alters work, and produces unattributed 'Aboriginal-style' goods that compete with First Nations artists and misrepresent cultural knowledge.

The rundown

Scales said she looks at some works and wonders whether they came from a First Nations community or were generically produced. She argues that artwork made without a connection to community lacks authenticity.

Prof Kathy Bowrey said one in five creators already had copyright problems without AI, and that issues are more complex for First Nations people because of limited control over ownership. She said artists lose repeat business and must compete against AI when making new work.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has vowed to protect creatives, and the attorney general said there are no plans to weaken copyright protections. Even so, AI has already been trained without compensation on works by Australian artists including Kylie Minogue and Nick Cave. The attorney general's office says it continues to consult on options for meaningful control and fair compensation.

Sources

  1. JournalismThe Guardian2026-11-01

The debate