Of all the things that AI of the current age is being used for, you probably wouldn’t be able to guess what Japan is using it for. SCMP reports that the country is looking to use it to fight piracy overseas in the manga and anime industries. The move is noted as one meant to “recover revenue from one of its most valuable cultural exports”.
Said report cites Authorised Books of Japan, described as an anti-piracy group, as estimating that online piracy had cost publishers of about JPY 8.5 trillion (~RM225 billion) a year. The move to use AI to combat piracy is also comes as creators look to overseas markets more and more as the anime and manga sales in the home markets have stagnated.
Also cited was a Bloomberg report which claims that the Japanese government aims to quadruple annual overseas sales of anime, manga and games. The goal is to hit US$130 billion (~RM535 billion) by 2033, a figure nearly double that of annual car exports.
The Japanese government’s Agency for Cultural Affairs has set aside JPY 100 million (~RM2.647 million) to develop this AI system. A domestic trial has been running since 2024, having the AI system detect images and text from manga posted online. There’s also noted to be an upgraded version that will target overseas operations.
Said system is made with the aim to replace manual checks currently used to find infringing content. But critics says that AI may still lack the sophistication needed to make reliable calls. Interestingly, the report also mentions that manga piracy is “especially popular” in Southeast Asia and the United States. And of the former, Indonesia is specifically singled out as accounting for 12.8% of total viewing time on pirate sites. This is followed by Japan itself at 12.4%, and then the US at 11.2%.
(Source: SCMP)
