Kaiju No. 8 and Spice and Wolf in controversy over using AI

Amid excitement for the premiere of this season's long-awaited anime productions, "Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf" and "Kaiju No. 8," a controversy has erupted on social media. Fans are more than certain that the opening covers of Hana Hope's "Tabi no Yukue" and OneRepublic's ending "Nobody," respectively, were created using image-generating artificial intelligence (AI) tools.

"Tabi no Yukue," by Hana Hope, opening of "Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf"

"Nobody" by OneRepublic, ending of "Kaiju No.8

This revelation has unleashed a torrent of criticism from fans of these works, who consider the use of AI for the creation of art to be disrespectful towards human artists. Many express disappointment and concern about the impact this trend could have on the entertainment industry.

Artists on social media have raised their voices in protest, arguing that the widespread use of AI in art production not only diminishes the value of human labor, but also negatively affects income and employment opportunities for traditional artists. They point out that companies see these tools as a way to cut costs, ignoring the unique value and creativity that human artists bring to their works.

The controversy raises important questions about the balance between technological innovation and the preservation of human art. While AI can offer efficiency and convenience in creating visual content, at what cost does this come to human artists? Are we sacrificing quality and originality for the sake of efficiency and cost savings?

• "As disappointing as this is, I also find it very funny and ironic, especially because of 'Spice and Wolf,' which is a show about economics. They decided on the cheapest possible approach to this project."
• "Well, the one in 'Spice and Wolf' is clearly AI and a pretty bad image, but the second one could still be authentic. What do they look at to deduce whether it's AI or not?"
• "What gives it away to me is the luminaire on the right that rises and ends up joining the design of the building."
• "In fact, all the fixtures in that scene have absurd placement."
• "There's a problem of perspective in the pictures on the way to the center, they're too long."
• "This is really sad. I can see that it is already inevitable that the use of AIs will be integrated into the production process, but why would they accept such egregious results?"
• "The reality is that companies are often quick to adopt things that can save them money, no matter if it fails 30% of the time or if the result is not very good. I'm fine with companies using new tools, but they never do any kind of quality control, it's all about saving some money."
• "Imagine having so many talented people at Production I.G and Studio Khara working on Kaiju No.8 and they still get to using an AI."
• "I don't have an inordinate hatred of AI like many people, but this is disappointing."
• "Has anyone proven it? I saw someone try to point out why, but I'm not convinced. And all those AI art detectors don't work. There was drama before on some art subreddits almost banning people for their art because they thought it was AI art until they showed images of the drawing. Even many 'artists' can't always tell the difference."
• "So should I be happy or angry about all this?"
• "I miss those times when anime wasn't something for normies, and no one complained about this kind of nonsense."
• "But I don't see what the problem is. Why is AI bad? In general, AI can help artists in the sense that the AI-generated image is a starting point, which makes the artist have to spend much less time finishing their work. Basically, it allows them to be more productive. Wasn't that the goal of AI? You just need to make sure that the artwork you deliver "makes sense" and fits what you ask for + is correct in a historical/physical sense. Also, just because AI exists doesn't mean that great hand-crafted works can no longer be created. It will simply be done less and in the right context (fun, learning or an assignment)."

Source: Reddit