The rise of generative artificial intelligence has caused quite a bit of controversy over the past year, especially in the entertainment industry. This was a big reason for the Hollywood strike and the current strike affecting video game voice actors, and its use in the arts has been similarly controversial. In addition to video games and books using the technology, comics now have to be wary of the technology encroaching on their space—either from artists within the industry or those using it as a way into the field.
Recently, activist and former football player Colin Kaepernick announced the launch of his comic book company, Lumi. One of its big “selling points” is that it will use genAI to draw and write comics that will then be sold to readers, and according to Kaepernick, the comics will be owned by the creators and come with built-in merchandising. Lumi, who has raised $4 million in funding, is also convinced the company will help “level the playing field,” and talks about a big game that allows aspiring creators to break into comics without having to rely on an entire team or individual Hollywood .
Ignoring Kaepernick’s own connections that have allowed him to write a children’s book for Scholastic and co-create a Netflix series about his own life with Ava DuVernay, this is a pretty worthless one idea. GenAI is often billed as helping less creative people make their own stuff, but this technology steals pre-existing work, so it’s actually stealing. There’s no getting around it: if you want to do something, you have to do it Done Yourself, both because people in these fields will avoid you once they understand how it’s made, and because making something requires constant effort and improvement over time.
Even more problematic is the fact that artist Khary Randolph claims that he and other artists were informed of Kaepernick’s Lumi plans months ago and told him how damaging the technology could be. He decided to go ahead with it anyway, reportedly pitching it to artists at San Diego Comic-Con as a “charitable cause.” Another big problem with genAI is consent after the fact. Recall how OpenAI used Scarlett Johansson’s voice in its chatbot even though she explicitly said not, or how agencies use coding language in contracts so that voice actors sign off their voices for synthesis. Companies and individuals like Kaepernick prefer to seek forgiveness rather than permission, which makes life as a creative person or lover of creative arts quite frustrating.
As Randolph said, the only thing you need to make a comic is “hard work, a pencil, and a piece of paper.” If you really want to get into this industry, there are tons of free resources out there, and using genAI to get into this industry helps no one and hurts everyone.
[via ComicsBeat]
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