8th Apr 2025
Reading Time: 4 minutes
And how to judge what “ethical AI” really means
The rise of AI has created exciting new opportunities for digital creators, but it’s also raised serious ethical questions. If an AI image generator was trained on thousands of artists’ work without their permission, is it fair to sell the images it creates? If a writing tool mimics the style of a famous author, is that creative, or exploitative?
As AI tools become more mainstream, it’s up to users — especially those making money — to consider where their content comes from, and how it impacts others.
So how do you make money from AI-generated work without compromising your values? And how do you know which platforms align with your own ethical standards?
First, What Do We Mean by “Ethical AI”?
This term is often vague, so we’ve defined a few key principles we believe matter for ethical use — especially when it comes to selling AI-generated work:
| Principle | What It Means | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Transparency | The platform is clear about how it works and where its data comes from | Users and audiences should know what’s human-made vs. machine-generated |
| Consent | The training data includes only work the owners allowed to be used | Many AI models are trained on copyrighted or scraped material |
| Credit or Compensation | Original artists or creators are credited or paid where appropriate | This protects creative workers and encourages fair sharing |
| User Rights | You have full commercial rights to the content you create | Without this, you may be legally restricted from selling your work |
| No Impersonation | The tool doesn’t allow you to mimic specific individuals | This reduces deepfakes, fake voices, and stolen styles |
No AI platform is perfect — but the 10 listed below make a visible effort to address these issues. Let’s break them down.
✅ 1. Adobe Firefly
Ethics score: 9/10
Type: Image generation (photos, illustrations, text effects)
Best for: Designers, marketers, and Adobe Creative Cloud users
-
Why it stands out: Trained only on Adobe Stock, open-licensed content, and public domain imagery
-
User rights: Commercial use is fully allowed
-
Transparency: Clear documentation of data sources
-
Bonus: Firefly now includes features to tag AI-generated content with Content Credentials
✅ 2. Runway ML
Ethics score: 8/10
Type: AI video creation and editing
Best for: Creators making YouTube, TikTok, or visual content
-
Why it stands out: Focus on user control and responsible visual synthesis
-
Training data: Claimed to be curated with copyright in mind
-
Commercial use: Allowed depending on tier
-
Notable ethics effort: Partners with artists for ethical model development
✅ 3. AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist)
Ethics score: 8/10
Type: AI music composition
Best for: YouTubers, podcasters, musicians needing royalty-free tracks
-
Why it stands out: Trained on classical music and licensed datasets
-
Commercial use: Paid plans allow full commercial rights
-
Good for: Users wanting ethical, copyright-safe AI-generated music
✅ 4. Canva’s Text to Image / AI Tools
Ethics score: 7.5/10
Type: Text-to-image, text summarising, writing prompts
Best for: Social media creators, small businesses
-
Why it stands out: AI features developed in partnership with ethical providers (e.g. Google, OpenAI)
-
Transparency: Offers clear use disclosures
-
User rights: Commercial use allowed on Pro plans
-
Limitations: Sources of training data not always specified
✅ 5. Jasper Art
Ethics score: 7/10
Type: AI image generation (marketing, web visuals)
Best for: Marketers and content creators
-
Why it stands out: Focuses on brand-safe, non-controversial image creation
-
Training: Mix of licensed and open-source images
-
User rights: Full commercial usage with subscription
-
Concerns: Less detail on source datasets, but pro-business focus
✅ 6. Soundraw
Ethics score: 7/10
Type: AI-generated music with customisable elements
Best for: Creators who want original, royalty-free tracks
-
Why it stands out: Music is created on demand and not reused
-
User rights: Commercial rights granted on paid plans
-
Ethics: Doesn’t mimic living artists or existing songs
-
Bonus: Full editing control for custom tracks
✅ 7. Kive
Ethics score: 6.5/10
Type: Moodboards and visual concept generation
Best for: Designers, agencies, art directors
-
Why it stands out: You can train it only on your own visual library
-
Consent-friendly: No scraping of the public web
-
User rights: You own your trained output
-
Great for: Professionals who want AI without external datasets
✅ 8. NightCafe Studio
Ethics score: 6.5/10
Type: AI image generation
Best for: Casual users, digital art hobbyists
-
Why it stands out: Actively encourages human curation and editing
-
Commercial use: Allowed with credit
-
Transparency: Offers options to show prompt and method
-
Training data: Uses various models (some with copyright concerns), but offers disclosure
✅ 9. Mubert
Ethics score: 6/10
Type: AI-generated music
Best for: Background music for videos or live streams
-
Why it stands out: Trained on licensed loops and musician-submitted material
-
Fair model: Musicians get paid when their samples are used
-
Commercial use: Available on Pro plans
-
Bonus: Offers instant royalty-free tracks for creators
✅ 10. Elicit
Ethics score: 6/10
Type: Research assistant for writing and idea generation
Best for: Writers, bloggers, journalists
-
Why it stands out: Focus on improving human reasoning, not replacing it
-
Training: Uses academic sources and public research
-
Commercial use: Mostly fair use; clarify for publication
-
Ethics: No fabrication or mimicry of specific voices
Platforms to Approach with Caution
Some of the most popular AI tools — like Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, and OpenAI’s DALL·E — have been criticised for training on copyrighted material without consent, and for enabling impersonation or mimicry.
While they offer powerful capabilities and allow commercial use, they may not meet ethical standards around consent and credit — especially for artists concerned about exploitation.
If you use these platforms, consider:
-
Disclosing AI use in your listings
-
Avoiding direct mimicry of real artists’ styles
-
Using AI for ideation, then finishing manually
Final Thought: Ethics Is a Moving Target
No platform is perfect. Even the best tools are working within a system that’s still catching up with technology. But as creators, we can make informed choices, ask tough questions, and build a creative economy that values transparency and fairness.
By supporting platforms that respect creators — both human and machine-assisted — you’re helping to shape the future of ethical AI.
