Netflix "For Workforce Shortage Assistance"
"Concerns Raised Over Worsening Labor Shortage"
"To assist the understaffed animation industry, we utilized artificial intelligence (AI) technology for video background painting." (Netflix Japan official Twitter)
Global manga artists are expressing concerns over Netflix's new Japanese animation "Dog and Boy." This is because the video was created using AI that generates images instead of human workers. There are pessimistic forecasts that creators' opportunities will diminish.
On the 31st of last month (local time), Netflix Japan released a trailer for the new animation "Dog and Boy" via its official Twitter account. The video, about three minutes long, dynamically showcases various manga backgrounds, from scenes of fireworks bursting everywhere to beautiful rivers and mountains.
Netflix Japan announced through Twitter that they have incorporated artificial intelligence (AI) into their new content. / Photo by Netflix Japan Twitter
The problem lies in the fact that all the background scenes revealed in this video were completed with the help of AI. Netflix Japan explained, "This is an experimental measure to assist the understaffed animation industry," adding, "All background paintings in every cut of the three-minute video utilized image-generating AI technology."
Upon reading this, many people immediately expressed their concerns in the comments. One Twitter user pointed out, "Are you proud to say you hired AI without thinking about improving the treatment of animation workers who suffer from heavy workloads and low pay?"
Another netizen said, "If the labor intensity in the animation industry had been slightly reduced, the manpower shortage problem would have been alleviated," adding, "Automation technologies including AI might actually worsen the labor shortage." Hamish Steele, an animation director who won the U.S. Eisner Award, also criticized, "(Netflix) has nothing to be proud of."
The issue of labor conditions for workers in the Japanese animation industry is not new. According to data released by the Japanese "Animation Directors Association" in November 2019, more than half of all industry workers were non-regular employees with unstable employment, and 41% of workers responded that their annual salary was less than 3 million yen (approximately 28.76 million KRW).
Meanwhile, as generative AI technology advances day by day, the content industry, including novels and manga, is becoming increasingly wary. Generative AI is software that trains AI on large amounts of data and then creates text or images based on specific instructions. In text, ChatGPT by the U.S. AI research company OpenAI is famous, and in the field of images, "Stable Diffusion" developed by the UK startup StabilityAI is well known.
When StabilityAI announced on the 2nd of last month that it would expand its Japanese branch, controversy also arose. At that time, some Japanese netizens expressed hostility, saying things like "You will have a negative impact on the industry," and "Japan does not welcome this company."
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