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As part of an interview with The Worldfolio, Takeshi Natsuno, CEO of Kadokawa, explained how the Japanese media group uses and researches artificial intelligence for the creation of anime. We summarize.
AI to support
Takeshi Natsuno himself has a remarkable past in the IT industry and is still working as a professor at a university, which is why he is very open to the topic of AI, according to his own statement.
Already when he took office in 2021, Natsuno announced that Kadokawa transformed Kadokawa into a technology -oriented company. The aim was to make the internal processes more efficient and thereby give the creative more freedom to concentrate on the development of original stories.
Accordingly, AI is currently used primarily as a supportive tool, for example when coloring designs. In this way, efficiency is significantly increased without AI intervening in the actual creative process – because it is currently not able to do that anyway:
»Artificial intelligence is strongly dependent on huge amounts of data – this enables how it works, but also brings with it a certain standardization. This can lead to creative forms of expression losing depth and diversity.
Although AI is able to recognize and reproduce patterns, but the special originality that characterizes good storytelling is denied. Works such as ›Oshi NO Ko‹ impress with exceptional creativity and unconventional ideas – something that a AI cannot produce. «
Investments in AI
Despite the many controversial debates about the use of artificial intelligence, Kadokawa already has the goals of a “AI-based production support” communicated.
One of the first projects was Mantra, a translation tool that uses image recognition and language processing to translate manga into different languages.
At that time, Kadokawa referred to the challenge of closing the gap between Japanese and international publications in order to avoid sales losses through the spread of unofficial translations.
In the meantime, the investments in technology and infrastructure in book sales show initial successes according to Natsuno. For example, the proportion of non-sold Kadokawa titles in bookstores is now only 26 %, while the average of the industry is currently around 40 %.
But the now seven anime studios of the Kadokawa Group are also to be strengthened by AI. When Natsuno was asked whether the company would share technologies and resources with all subsidiaries, he replied:
