Multiple artists and editors working in the comic book business have taken a stance against AI-generated art.One of the most ardent tweets against AI art came from BOOM Studios! Acquisition Editor Jon Moisan, who wrote out in one post, "If you submit AI art to me in an attempt to get work and I find out, I'll do everything in my power to make sure you're blackballed from the comics industry. There's no room for frauds in this industry." In follow-up tweets, Moisan wrote that his main concern was artists attempting to pass off AI images as their own original and unassisted work.
Moisan's post was retweeted and "seconded" by Heather Antos, Senior Editor at IDW, while other editorial voices chimed in with their experiences on the job. Among these were Rantz A. Hoseley, Vice President of Editorial for independent publisher Z2 Comics, who wrote that he had received a recent cover submission clearly created via AI.
As for comic artists themselves, illustrators voicing their opinions on AI art include the likes of cover artists Dave Rapoza and Lois van Baarle, who tweeted their support of the "No to AI-Generated Images" protest movement on the popular portfolio site ArtStation. Members of the site have taken to flooding its trending page with variations of an image with a red cross through the words "AI," expressing their distaste towards ArtStation's policies allowing AI art to be posted.
Rapoza tweeted out that he was not entirely against AI art, but believed that the human artists AI bots mimic should be compensated. Loish echoed these concerns, writing, "Until there is an ethically sourced database that compensates artists for the use of their images, I am against AI art."
Others speaking out include publisher Mad Cave Studios, which posted a website statement clarifying that human creators would always take priority over AI images. Then, there is the New Zealand pop culture convention Armageddon Expo, which announced that AI art would be banned at all of its events. AI art submissions are also not limited to the comic world alone, being that Alex Aceves, Associate Editor at young adult book publisher Holiday House, tweeted that she had received her first submission with AI illustrations, calling it an "immediate pass."
Much of the controversy around AI bots revolves around the fact that the work of real artists fuels the algorithms behind the bots. Major voices in pop culture have spoken out against them, such as the time acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro called AI art "an insult to life itself."
Source: Twitter, Mad Cave Studios