On October 3, renowned South Korean illustrator Kim Jung Gi passed away unexpectedly at the age of 47. He was beloved for his innovative ink-and-brushwork style of manhwa, or Korean comic-book art, and famous for captivating audiences by live-drawing huge, intricate scenes from memory.

Just days afterward, a former French game developer, known online as 5you, fed Jung Gi’s work into an AI model. He shared the model on Twitter as an homage to the artist, allowing any user to create Jung Gi-style art with a simple text prompt. The artworks showed dystopian battlefields and bustling food markets — eerily accurate in style, and, apart from some telltale warping, as detailed as Jung Gi’s own creations.

The response was pure disdain. “Kim Jung Gi left us less than [a week ago] and AI bros are already ‘replicating’ his style and demanding credit. Vultures and spineless, untalented losers,” read one viral post from the comic-book writer Dave Scheidt on Twitter. “Artists are not just a ‘style.’ They’re not a product. They’re a breathing, experiencing person,” read another from cartoonist Kori Michele Handwerker.

Far from a tribute, many saw the AI generator as a theft of Jung Gi’s body of work. 5you told Rest of World that he has received death threats from Jung Gi loyalists and illustrators, and asked to be referred to by his online pseudonym for safety.

Comments

Wahaha wrote on October 30, 2022 at 2:28 PM

#5,467

Modern Luddites.

Fortunately they do not matter.

smallpond OP wrote on November 1, 2022 at 7:00 AM

#5,469

Replying to (#5,467)

You know, there are still blind people about who think technology is a good thing for humanity.

takeheart wrote on November 7, 2022 at 1:12 AM

#5,474

Artists are not just a ‘style.’ They’re not a product. They’re a breathing, experiencing person

That made me laugh. Artists have been getting increasingly greedy in the recent years, sucking up to capitalist system and spitting on the people. Patreon this, fanbox that. I encountered more and more teasers to paywalled content on pixiv. I say they get what they deserve. When stuff copyfags make, similar or better, can be mass produced for nothing, it's just like torrenting. Hoarders lose, people win.

Now, on the Luddic path I personally stand with Ted. AI art may be just an euthanizing distraction from horrors to come. The article also leaves impression that ultimately nothing depends on the people: now its corporate copyfag legislators against corporate technocratic mad scientists. I imagine a battle of one evil against another evil, that happens far away and produces pretty sparkling fireworks.