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Procreate Defies the AI Trend and Pledges “No Generative AI” in Its Apps

Procreate says it will not add generative AI to its products—but the pledge is not a rejection of every form of machine learning. Here is the precise meaning of the company’s policy.

By ThatPainter Team Updated 7 min read
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Procreate says it will not introduce generative AI into its products. The company’s public position, made especially visible by CEO James Cuda in August 2024, is a rejection of the current generative-AI direction—not a claim that every form of machine learning is inherently unacceptable or absent from creative software.

That distinction matters. Procreate’s policy is built around human authorship, artist ownership, and privacy, while the wider creative industry remains divided over AI training data, consent, compensation, authorship, and synthetic imagery.

What Procreate has actually promised

Procreate’s official AI statement uses the heading “No generative AI” and says the company will not introduce generative AI into its products. In August 2024, CEO James Cuda made the position public, telling WIRED that Procreate’s products were designed around a human creating the work and objecting to what generative AI was doing to artists.

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The most accurate way to describe this is as Procreate’s current public company policy: it says it will not add generative-AI features to its products. It is more precise than saying that Procreate has rejected all artificial intelligence, all machine learning, or every automated feature that might appear in a creative application.

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“No generative AI” does not mean “no machine learning”

Procreate’s own statement acknowledges that machine learning can be compelling and useful. Its objection is specifically to the current path of generative AI, particularly systems that produce images or other content from prompts or references.

That creates an important boundary:

Claim What the evidence supports
Procreate will not introduce generative AI into its products Yes. This is the company’s stated public position.
Procreate rejects every use of machine learning No. Procreate explicitly distinguishes machine learning generally from generative AI.
Every current and future Procreate feature is guaranteed to use no machine learning Not established by the public statement.
The pledge is a legally enforceable, permanent promise covering every future product or acquisition Not established. It should be treated as a current public policy and company position.

In other words, the pledge concerns generative content creation, not every computational technique used in software. A careful reader should not interpret it as proof that Procreate will never use any machine-learning technology in any capacity.

Why the stance resonated with many artists

Procreate’s announcement arrived during a broader backlash among some artists against generative-image systems. The concerns include whether training datasets contain artists’ work without meaningful consent, whether creators are compensated, who should receive authorship credit, and how synthetic images affect commissions and employment.

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Procreate’s position aligns with a visible and influential part of the artist community that places a high value on human-made work and transparent creative processes. But it would be inaccurate to describe opposition to generative AI as a universal artist consensus. Artists’ views differ, and the creative industry remains divided between people who see generative tools as useful or transformative and those who consider their current development and business models exploitative.

The company’s argument is therefore both practical and values-based: Procreate wants its tools to support a person making the artwork rather than generate a substitute for that person’s creative contribution.

What this means for Procreate users

For users of the main Procreate iPad app, the policy means they should not expect an Adobe Firefly-style image generator, text-to-image canvas feature, or similar generative-content tool to be added under the company’s current stated direction.

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Procreate’s product is instead centered on direct drawing and painting. Its official product materials highlight more than 300 handcrafted brushes, Brush Studio customization, layers, drawing assistance, animation features, 3D painting, time-lapse recording, and export workflows. The app is designed for iPad and is sold through Apple’s App Store without a subscription, although the live price and App Store metadata can vary by country and change over time.

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That does not mean Procreate is technologically static. Brush engines, selection tools, transforms, stabilization, color controls, animation features, file handling, and other forms of automation can continue to evolve without becoming generative AI. The relevant question is whether a feature helps the user make and edit the work—or creates content on the user’s behalf.

Procreate Dreams is a separate product

Procreate Dreams should not be confused with an animation mode inside the standard Procreate app. It is a separate animation application with frame-by-frame animation, keyframes, imported video and audio, and multitrack workflows. Procreate describes it as a one-time-purchase product.

Because Procreate’s statement refers broadly to “our products,” it is reasonable to understand the company’s public position as relevant to both the core illustration app and other products such as Dreams. However, the public AI page does not provide a feature-by-feature list of exclusions. It is safer to say that the company has made a broad no-generative-AI commitment than to claim that every conceivable future Dreams or Procreate feature has been individually ruled out.

Privacy is part of the company’s alternative

Procreate’s AI page also says that the company does not have access to users’ artwork by design and does not track activity in its apps. Those are Procreate’s representations and should be attributed to the company rather than presented as an independently verified universal fact.

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That qualification matters because the Apple App Store privacy section identifies privacy information supplied by the developer; Apple’s listing does not independently verify those representations. Readers who need a particular privacy guarantee should review Procreate’s current privacy documentation and the live App Store disclosure for their region.

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Why Apple Pencil matters more than an AI feature for this workflow

For artists choosing hardware around Procreate, the most relevant feature is not generative AI but the app’s pressure-sensitive drawing workflow. Procreate’s handbook says its brushes are optimized for Apple Pencil pressure and tilt. Those inputs can control properties such as brush size, opacity, scatter, color, and texture behavior.

Apple Pencil Pro adds capabilities including barrel roll and squeeze-related controls in supported workflows. Procreate’s compatibility and version notes have also described support for features such as squeeze, hover, barrel roll, and haptic feedback. Compatibility depends on the iPad model, Apple Pencil model, and software version, so buyers should check Apple’s and Procreate’s current compatibility information before purchasing.

If you are building a pressure-sensitive setup, Apple Pencil Pro for Procreate is a logical place to start researching. It is not required for every Procreate user: older or less expensive compatible Apple Pencil models may be sufficient, particularly for users who do not need barrel roll, squeeze, hover, or haptic features.

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What the pledge does—and does not—say about the future

The phrase “no generative AI” is strong, but it should not be expanded into claims the company has not made. The public materials do not establish a perpetual legal guarantee covering every future product, acquisition, integration, partnership, or third-party workflow.

The defensible interpretation is narrower and clearer: Procreate currently presents an anti-generative-AI policy and says it will not introduce generative AI into its products. If the company changes that position, the relevant evidence would be a new official statement, product announcement, or feature release.

That approach also avoids treating a corporate policy as a technical certification. Procreate may continue to add sophisticated tools, automation, and possibly non-generative machine-learning functions while maintaining its stated opposition to generative content creation.

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How Procreate differs from the broader software market

Many major creative applications now include or promote generative features such as object replacement, image expansion, text-to-image generation, background creation, or style transformation. Procreate’s position makes it an outlier among widely used digital-art tools: it is choosing to emphasize the artist’s direct input rather than compete on the speed of machine-generated output.

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That does not make Procreate automatically superior for every artist. Generative features can be useful to people who want rapid ideation, concept exploration, cleanup, or production assistance. Procreate’s approach is better understood as a deliberate product and ethical choice for users who want a drawing environment centered on manual authorship and direct manipulation.

Bottom line

Procreate has publicly pledged not to introduce generative AI into its products, and that pledge remains distinct from a rejection of machine learning in every form. The company’s position is aimed at generative content creation and is tied to its stated priorities of human-made art, user ownership, and privacy.

For artists, the practical result is straightforward: Procreate remains an iPad-native illustration and animation ecosystem built around brushes, layers, direct drawing, and Apple Pencil input—not a platform promising built-in text-to-image generation. Treat the pledge as Procreate’s current public policy, verify volatile product and compatibility details before buying hardware, and avoid turning it into a broader guarantee than the company has actually made.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Procreate have generative AI?

Procreate’s current public position is that it will not introduce generative AI into its products. That does not establish that the apps use no machine learning or other automated computational techniques whatsoever.

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Is Procreate completely against AI?

Not exactly. Procreate’s official statement says machine learning has merit while rejecting the current path of generative AI. The company’s stated objection is to generative content creation, not necessarily every use of machine learning.

Does Procreate collect users’ artwork?

Procreate says on its AI page that it does not have access to users’ artwork by design and does not track activity in its apps. Those are company representations. Apple’s App Store privacy information is supplied by the developer and is not independently verified by Apple.

Do I need an Apple Pencil Pro to use Procreate?

No. Apple Pencil Pro is not required for every Procreate user. Compatible Apple Pencil models can provide pressure and tilt input, while Apple Pencil Pro adds features such as squeeze, hover, barrel roll, and haptics where supported. Check compatibility for your specific iPad and software version.

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