June 9, 2023
Tokyo Shueisha Co., Ltd. announced Wednesday that it will end sales of its digital photobook, Umarete. (Just came out.), created using image generation AI. The photo book was released as a digital limited title on May 29, but the company said, “There was insufficient consideration of various issues surrounding generative AI.”
According to the company and others, Ai Satsuki, the model for this photobook, is not a real person. Produced by the weekly Playboy editorial department using image generation AI. The AI is said to have been presented with text and images close to the image the magazine wanted to generate.
The magazine’s 24th issue, which was released on the same day as the photobook, featured several images of Ai Satsuki. The article asks, “What are the possibilities?”, using the term to refer to pages featuring glamor models. [generative AI technology] Bring it to gravure? ”
After the book and magazine were released, social media users pointed out that Ai Satsuki looked like a real person and questioned the copyright of the images. “We should have thought more carefully,” the company said. [about commercializing AI-generated products]Keeping an eye on the evolving social debate. ”
