Beyblade X sparks controversy due to use of artificial intelligence in final anime video

Beyblade X sparks controversy due to use of artificial intelligence in final anime video

Anime doesn’t hide its use of AI to cut costs

The anime industry is suffering from a labor crisis that is hard to ignore. In addition to overworking and underestimating animators, as explained Jujutsu Kaisen, the category is facing another attack on its performance due to the rise of the use of artificial intelligence in animation. This time, the new target of controversy is Beyblade X, which was criticized by fans for admitting to using technology to promote its latest season.

AI is being implemented in music video promoting the ending song from episodes: ZOOM ZOOM from K-pop group Espa. While the song respects the creations of human artists, the images featured in the song’s lyric video are computer generated by AiHUB. Check:

It didn’t take long for Beyblade fans to flood social media with criticism of the choice, both because of the results and the labor issues involved. Brazilian YouTuber Cyprus was one of the biggest critics, pointing out serious flaws in the art, such as elongated fingers, mismatched colors and artificial facial features. “All we had to do was bring in the OLM artists and manipulate a regular solid 3D model,” protects.

Another Brazilian who answers online to @SirrEstranjoalso explains that most likely the storyboarding and animation are carried out by the employees of the OLM studio responsible for Beyblade X, was used without consent to train artificial intelligence on this technology. And as a result, the works of these artists were not even noted in the credits.

The ethical issue in this case is more complicated than usual, since it involves a company using copyrighted material to reduce production costs using AI. Generally, the biggest criticism of technology adoption arises from the use of unauthorized arts for teaching and reproduction, which is legally prohibited.

The Japanese government is currently exploring a way to regulate the use of artificial intelligence to prevent potential intellectual theft from affecting the country’s creative workers. The bill has been drafted but is still awaiting approval.

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