Having the
creator of your favorite manga compliment an illustration you made of their
characters must be an amazing experience. But what happens when it turns out
that the image was generated with artificial intelligence? That's what happened
with Makoto Yukimura, author of Vinland Saga, who ended up
getting into an argument after complimenting an illustration by Thorfinn
without initially knowing it had been created with AI. The situation led him to
publicly clarify his position on this technology, assuring that recognizing
its capabilities does not mean being in favor of it.
It all
started when Yukimura found an image in X that showed Thorfinn standing in a
huge wheat field. The mangaka liked the illustration so much that he
congratulated the person who had published it and thanked him for understanding
the feelings of his protagonist. He even took the opportunity to reflect on one
of the central ideas of his story: that people would have no reason to fight if
they could all live with what is necessary.
However,
another user responded by explaining that the illustration had been
generated by artificial intelligence. She also accused the account that
shared her of appropriating works made by other artists, although those
accusations were not independently verified.
Upon
learning the origin of the image, Yukimura replied with a rather brief
sentence: "Wow, really? AI does a good job." And although he
probably did not expect that this would provoke too many reactions, several
followers interpreted his words as a show of support for the use of artificial
intelligence in the illustrations.
The
creator of Vinland Saga assures that AI steals art
In the face
of the discussion, the mangaka published a new message on November 8 to
explain what he had meant. Far from defending AI-generated images, Yukimura
said that he considers the development of these tools and their possible
consequences for artists to be worrying.
"AI
steals art,"
the author wrote, before explaining that it is precisely the technology's
ability to produce convincing results that is a problem for those who are
professionally dedicated to drawing. To admit that AI can do a good job, he
said, is simply to acknowledge a reality, not to express approval of it.
In other
words, Yukimura sees the quality of artificially generated images as part of
what makes this technology concerning. His original comment was not
intended to endorse the use of other people's works to train systems or to
encourage his followers to replace human illustrations.
The author
also acknowledged that he had surprised many people with his words and, when
talking to other users, he admitted that he should be more careful about the
way he expresses his opinions in such short posts.
The
situation is especially interesting because Vinland Saga is a work that
has dedicated a good part of its history to exploring the meaning of human
effort, violence and the search for a better life. Thus, the image of Thorfinn
surrounded by wheat had a particular meaning for its creator, regardless of how
it was made.
