‘JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure’ Creator Hirohiko Araki Express Concern Regarding AI’s Effect On Manga: “We’re Going To See An Increasingly Shady World Filled With Scammers Exploiting It”
As AI continues to see more widespread adoption across the world, JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure mangaka Hirohiko Araki has shared has become the latest creative to voice concern about the negative implications the technology will have on his industry.
The esteemed mangaka offered his thoughts on the topic in his recently released Hirohiko Araki’s New Manga Techniques: How to Create a Villain, a sequel tutorial book to his previous Hirohiko Araki’s Manga Techniques that specifically delves into the process of creating captivating and charming bad guys (which he argues are the lynch pin of any good manga).
In the book’s second chapter Super Important! The Basics of Creating Villains, after advising readers to stay aware of current events because doing so, as recapped by Twitter user @jojo_wiki, “can help enrich a villain’s background and motivations,” Araki made a slight detour to touch upon the topic of AI.
“Speaking about societal evils, I think that as AI continues to spread throughout society, we’re going to see an increasingly shady world filled with scammers exploiting it,” he stated, per a translation of the text by @jojo_wiki. “Recently I came across a drawing and thought, ‘This is something I drew right,?’ I was shocked to find out it was actually AI.”
“When I draw manga, I add subtle personal elements, that make the work mine,” the Thus Spoke Rohan Kishibe mangaka further explained. “But this AI-generated piece even mimicked the details like the way I draw eyelashes so precisely that it was almost impossible to tell it apart from my work. If it were based on recent drawings, I’d know right away. ‘No I didn’t draw this.’ On the other hand, I honestly wouldn’t be able to tell the difference if it were done with my art from about ten years ago, when my memory of it would be a little bit hazy. The more AI advances, the more this kind of thing happens.”
From there, the award-winning artist proceeded to issue a word of warning to his fellow creatives, asserting, “Art reflects the times, and manga is an example of that. Seeing this world of con artists appear in manga could very well mean that we’re headed for a future dominated by fraudsters. This type of ‘evil’ in today’s age will undoubtedly end up impacting manga down the line.”
Turning towards the specific threat the technology poses to the manga industry, Araki then acknowledged, “”Copyright infringement by AI is also a ‘villain’ that we manga artists must face,”
“The extreme scenario is that AI-generated fakes might be accepted as the ‘real thing’ and even if we try to protect our work, these counterfeits will become so accurate and sophisticated that it’s no long a fight an individual can win,” he added.
As for a solution to this problem, unfortunately, the mangaka was at a loss as to a ‘cure all’ for AI theft, as he admitted that while “Having some kind of laws would probably be the only way to regulate this,” the sad reality was that “because we’re dealing with a world of con artists, there’s also a very real possibility of that laws favoring them will appear before we know it.”
This possibility in mind, Araki drew his thoughts to a close by noting that while “Personally, I entrust my copyright management to Shueisha” (JJBA began serialization in the publisher’s Weekly Shonen Jump before moving to its sister magazine Ultra Jump in 2005, where it continues to appear to this day), unfortunately, “some manga artists are lax in managing their copyrights leading to their artwork without permission or even leaking original drawings.”
“When I see that,” he concluded, “I worry they might face serious trouble down the line if they don’t take it seriously.”
At current, Araki’s ninth entry in the JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure saga, The JoJolands, is currently being serialized in the aforementioned Ultra Jump.
Unfortunately for English readers, due to beginning their localization of the series long after it began, Viz Media is currently a few volumes behind, with their most recent release being sixth volume of Part 6, Stone Ocean.
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