Case study 02 · Veil by claai
Giving creators a way to opt out of AI training
Product creation · Launch strategy · Open source · AI ethics
Role
Co-creator and launch lead
Focus
Product creation, AI ethics, open source, launch strategy
Industry
Generative AI, creator tools
The challenge
The challenge
Generative models made it possible to create extraordinary things and easier to train on creative work without meaningful consent.
For artists, photographers, and creators, the concern was immediate but the options were limited. “Don’t scrape my work” was a reasonable demand. It was not yet a product.
We wanted to build a practical intervention: a tool that could help creators protect images from being used for unauthorised model training.
My role
My role
I co-created Veil and helped lead the product framing, public narrative, and launch strategy.
This was not only a technical project. It required a position: pro-creator, realistic about the limits of current systems, and committed to making consent a product requirement rather than an afterthought.
What we did
What we did
Made an invisible threat visible
Model training is usually hidden from the people whose work is used. We translated that concern into a clear, concrete benefit: creators could apply a protective layer to their images before sharing them online.
Built a creator-first narrative
We avoided framing the project as anti-technology. The point was not to stop AI. It was to create better terms for participation in it.
Used open source as trust infrastructure
For a tool making claims about protection and ethics, transparency mattered. Open-source principles helped make the project more inspectable, collaborative, and credible to the people it was intended to serve.
Outcome
Outcome
Veil gave a growing cultural concern a tangible product form, creating a clearer way to talk about image protection, consent, and the future of creative work in AI systems.
What I learned
The strongest ethical products do not merely explain what is wrong. They give people a meaningful action they can take.