The growing influence of artificial intelligence in
digital art creation has reached a new milestone with the announcement of a
deal between Californian startup Dashtoon and the Korea Webtoon Industry
Association (KWIA). The deal,
which seeks to license and host top-tier webtoons on Dashtoon ’s
platform , has sparked a debate around the use of AI-generated images in
the webtoon industry.
©Dashtoon Studio
Dashtoon, a platform recognized by Google Play as the
best app of 2023 in the “Comics and Manga” category, has decided to expand into
the Western market by collaborating with Korean artists through its “Dashtoon
Studio” tool. This tool allows for the creation of AI-generated images,
which, according to the parties involved, will speed up the production of
webtoons. However, the use of this technology has raised ethical and legal
concerns.
In a recent statement, a Dashtoon
representative confirmed that the images used in its generative model come from
open-source platforms such as Stable Diffusion , which is currently
facing litigation related to moral and economic rights infringements. This has raised concerns among artists, who
see this practice as an act of misappropriation of their work.
The KWIA
association, which includes prominent Korean studios such as D&C Media and
Kakao Entertainment, has shown interest in this collaboration, although it is
not yet known which of its titles will be ported to the Dashtoon platform. This move follows a strategic
partnership between Google Korea and KWIA, signed in September 2023, which
seeks to expand the webtoon industry globally.
Despite
the benefits that AI may bring in reducing the workload for creators, many
artists and collectives ,
such as the Animators Association NAFCA, have expressed concern about
the lack of adequate measures to protect the moral rights of creators. While
some artists are willing to accept the reality of generative AI, most remain
opposed to it, arguing that it devalues art, belittles creative endeavour and
endangers livelihoods.
This
development is part of a broader trend in which manga and webtoon platforms are
adopting AI tools to support artists in creating high-quality content. However, the implementation of this
technology remains a divisive issue within the global art community.
Source: ComicBookResources
