Analyzing Original Work with AI to Create New Story and Art
"Son Profiting from Deceased Father" Faces Criticism
A new installment of "Black Jack," one of the hit works by the late Japanese manga artist Osamu Tezuka, famous for "Astro Boy" and "Jungle Emperor Leo," is set to be released.
'Black Jack' to be reserialized under the 'Tezuka 2023' project
According to local media such as Japan's NHK on the 13th, "Black Jack," a representative work of Osamu Tezuka and considered the pioneer of medical manga, will be serialized this fall in the weekly "Shonen Champion" with the help of generative artificial intelligence (AI) like ChatGPT.
"Black Jack" was serialized by Osamu Tezuka for 10 years starting in 1973, totaling 242 episodes. The work depicts the exploits of an unlicensed doctor with a genius talent for treating intractable diseases. It is praised for highlighting the limitations of the Japanese medical system and addressing medical ethics such as euthanasia and organ transplantation.
This "Black Jack" is being reborn under a project called "Tezuka 2023." The project is led by Osamu Tezuka's eldest son and animation director Makoto Tezuka (62).
The scenario planning is handled by GPT-4, the latest version of ChatGPT. GPT-4 analyzed over 200 original episodes to learn the storyline, world view, themes, and relationships between characters. Based on this, when a human inputs specific keywords, it generates new stories that did not previously exist.
For example, if the keywords "Nakdo (落島)" and "corona" are entered, a story is generated in which the protagonist Black Jack collaborates with indigenous people on a remote island to save children infected with the coronavirus.
The illustrations are created by the image-generating AI "Stable Diffusion." Stable Diffusion also learned the original brush strokes and distinctive character expressions of the original art style.
"Disrespecting the deceased" vs "The importance of challenging"
When news of the "Tezuka 2023" project spread, passionate fans of Osamu Tezuka criticized it, saying, "It is disrespecting the deceased's work," and "The son is exploiting his father's legacy to make money."
However, Makoto Tezuka explained, "This is not simply about releasing a new work, but about researching how far AI can intervene in human creativity and the pursuit of fun," adding, "If my father were alive, he would have used AI to set an example." He emphasized, "Challenging is important."
He also pointed out that while AI creates the illustrations and story, humans direct and supervise the process, adding, "This is not about replacing humans with AI, but rather using it as a tool to support us."
Professor Satoshi Kurihara of Keio University, who participated in the project, said, "I expect this project to provide answers to more fundamental questions beyond how AI and humans will build their relationship."
'Tezuka 2020' project continuation... Attempts also made in Korea
The baseball comic "Gongpo-ui Oeingudan" (The Terror Foreign Baseball Team) by Lee Hyun-se, which gained great popularity at the script studio
Meanwhile, this is not the first attempt to continue Osamu Tezuka's works using AI. The "Tezuka 2020" team, led by Makoto Tezuka, released a new work called "Pheidon" in 2020 using a similar method. Through AI learning, they created a manga that Osamu Tezuka might have drawn if he were still alive. However, the AI's role was limited to character settings and story planning, and most other work had to be done by human hands.
In Korea, veteran manga artist Lee Hyun-se (67), famous for "The Horror Foreign Baseball Team," has started a project to train AI on all his works, including "The Horror Foreign Baseball Team." This project aims to allow manga drawn in his style to be released even after his passing. The manga planning company Jaedam Media plans to publish a new work drawn by this AI within this year.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
