Entertainment companies of all kinds have been under pressure to show they're part of the AI revolution. It often seems that everyone from video game developers to animation studios feel they have to embrace AI art, not because audiences want it – they've shown again and again that they don't – but to show to investors that they're keeping up and becoming more efficient, and out of fear that if they don't use it, others will.
That made it refreshing to see DC Comics take such a firm and unequivocal stance on the opposite side of the fence. Speaking at New York Comic Con last week, the company's s president Jim Lee positioned DC as a rare creative company that's rejecting AI not just now but for the foreseeable future.
Lee said DC Comics would “not support AI-generated storytelling or artwork. Not now, not ever, as long as [SVP, general manager] Anne DePies and I are in charge."
He also gave the perfect argument why. Not because of the often cited concerns over ethics or legal fears, but cold commercial reasons that should cut through to any industry exec: customers don't want it.
“People have an instinctive reaction to what feels authentic,” he said. “We recoil from what feels fake. That’s why human creativity matters. AI doesn’t dream,” he added. “It doesn’t feel. It doesn’t make art. It aggregates it."
Lee's comments were greeted by applause at Comic Con. Many artists will have found the remarks encouraging as so many other companies jump on the AI train. Some big names like Disney have found themselves walking a tightrope, suing AI companies for infringing on their intellectual property on the one hand but exploring the use of AI themselves on the other. By taking a clear stance, DC Comics should avoid that controversy.
There's an argument that audiences don't care how something was made as long as the product is good. For many, that might be the case. But, for now, AI art still isn't good for finished products other than blink-and-you-miss it VFX pieces like in Netflix's The Eternaut. People like AI for ghiblifying themselves or creating memes, but that doesn't mean they'll accept the same slop in a movie, series or video game that they're paying money for.
Considering DC's clout as the longest-established publishing company in comics, there's a chance its stance could lead others to question whether the use of generative AI for finished creative work is inevitable. At least we know that the future of Superman art and other much-loved characters remains safely in human hands... at least while Lee is in charge.
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