Anime Industry: More Than 90% of Workforce Is Worried About AI

It is all the news can talk about these days at this point. Between ChatGPT and machine learning, the landscape of artificial intelligence never stays the same. The study is only growing by the day, and of course, that means people are keeping close tabs on how AI could impact their lives. For every benefit of AI we find there seems to be a negative, and in Japan, a recent survey found more than 90% of the anime workforce is concerned about the tech’s long-term impact.

The information comes from TBS News Dig in Japan as data was collected from a survey. It was there fans learned about 94% of anime creators polled by Arts Workers Japan are worried about AI. To be specific, the responders said they are “concerned that AI could have harmful effects such as rights infringement” moving forward.

With more than 25,000 employees polled, you can see concerns about AI are everywhere. This specific survey went on to document specific creators who shared their own awful experiences with AI. Some admitted they saw their work stolen by AI which were then sold overseas with zero credit. As for other workers in the industry, they found products that used samples of their voice were being sold online. The products used an AI filter to mimic some provided voice samples, and the rest is history. These reasons have pushed the Arts Workers Japan Association to petition for strict guidelines regarding AI, and the group is taking its message to the government.

Of course, the anime industry has already dealt with AI, and it has not been received very well. Most famously, Netflix caught flak this year when a short film titled The Dog & The Boy was released. The anime short film features AI-created scenery which the studio did as an “experimental effort” amid so-called staff shortages. The decision was lambasted across social media, but even still, AI continues to provide new worries for anime workers. Now, this new survey proves the fear is felt by everyone in anime across the board, so we can only hope officials will find ways to safeguard workers from AI while still allowing the burgeoning tech field to grow. 

What do you make of this latest anime industry report…? Do you think creators should be worried about AI? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.

HT – ANN