The popular streaming platform Twitch just rolled out a new feature today that allows Twitch's parent company, Amazon, to train generative AI models on users' channels. This setting is enabled by default for everybody on Twitch, but there is a way to toggle it off.
You can find this setting right near the bottom of the "Security and Privacy" tab within Twitch user settings. That link should take you directly to your user Security page on Twitch if you are logged in. If not, you can find that specific area by clicking on your avatar in the top-right corner from the main Twitch homepage. Select "Settings" from that dropdown menu. On the new page that loads, click on "Security and Privacy."
Once you are in the Security and Privacy tab, scroll down to near the bottom of those options. You will see a toggle next to "Training for Generative AI." Just go ahead and toggle that off; The toggle will go from showing a purple checkmark to just being blank.
This is something that all Twitch users should disable, be they a streamer or a viewer. The toggle impacts more than just your personal content. An updated support page states that everything from your stream's chat to the text and images on your channel are all fair game for them to steal. If you hate this as much as most people seem to hate it, be sure to inform your favorite streamers to disable it; otherwise, you may still end up contributing to Amazon's AI just by being in someone else's chatroom.
Your stream and the stream's chat, your VODs, your Clips, Highlights, and any text or images on your Channel may be used. If you chat on someone else's stream, their opt-out preferences govern if that chat can be used for training.
Why is it not opt-in? That’s what everybody is spamming in chat. I get it. 'Let me opt in versus making me opt out'. Well, there’s an honest answer: If this was opt-in, nobody would opt in. That’s honestly the answer.
Users also asked, loudly, if their content was already being used for training before this toggle was added today. Minton was unable to give a definitive answer. He said, "I don't actually know the answer to that question because I don't know what Amazon has done in terms of model training, what they've used and not used."
In 2024, Twitch's then chief monetization officer Mike Minton was asked at a media event (via Ars Technica) if Amazon was using Twitch to train its AI models.
Yeah, for sure. I mean, I think obviously within the bounds of user trust within the bounds of privacy regulations, which vary all around the world, but of course we have a role to play in that.
Kish suggested that the only reason this toggle was added is because Twitch is listening to user complaints. She states that this new toggle option is "a reflection of reacting to this community's voice that you are not wanting to train gen AI models, and we want to give you that option."
