Twitch AI: You can now stop Amazon from using your content

Until recently, yes, pretty much. Now, finally, Twitch streamers have a new option to opt out and prevent their content from being used to train Amazon's artificial intelligence models.

Specifically, Twitch updated its settings on June 17, 2024. This allows users to disable the use of their streams, video on demand (VODs), clips, chat logs, and channel text. None of this will feed Amazon's future generative AI models.

So, if you were worried your live broadcasts were being gobbled up by some algorithm, you can now rest a bit easier. But heads up: this opt-out only applies to "future" training. What's already been used is, well, gone. A bit like closing the barn door after the horses bolted, wouldn't you say?

Training an AI means feeding it a massive amount of data, like your videos or chats, so it learns to generate text or images on its own. That's how chatbots or image generators come to life.

Amazon, which owns Twitch, clearly benefits from having as much data as possible. The more content it gets, the better its AI becomes. For creators, though, it's a tricky issue: is it fair for your work to be used for a product that might one day even compete with you?

This new setting, announced by Twitch, is a small win for privacy and content control. It's not a trivial choice, especially for those who make a living streaming. The power to say "no thanks" is always welcome, even if it arrives a little late.