Korea’s Naver, Kakao to ban AI use in webtoon contests

Kakao Webtoon logo [Courtesy of Kakao Entertainment]

South Korean platform behemoths Naver Corp. and Kakao Corp. have decided to ban participants of webtoon contests from using artificial intelligence (AI) tools amid growing controversy over AI utilization in the webtoon market.

Kakao Entertainment Co., a content unit of Kakao, released a statement on its website Tuesday that it will hold a webtoon competition titled “Humans Rule Webtoons.”

The application period is from June 1 to 6. The winner of the contest will get a prize of 10 million won ($7,530) and other benefits such as the opportunity to publish his or her webtoon on the Kakao platform.

One of the qualifications to participate in the event is a requirement that refrains applicants from using AI assistance. The applicants will be required to submit materials to prove that their scripts are drawn without the use of AI tools.

“Verification will take place in steps such as review of storyboards and in-person interviews,” said an unnamed official from Kakao Entertainment. “We have other factors to use when determining whether the drawings are made by human creators or AI.”

Following Kakao’s decision, Naver also announced Wednesday that it will ban the use of AI tools in its webtoon contest to respond to the growing resistance against AI-based drawings among readers.

“In the absence of any social consensus on the use of generative AI in webtoons, we will require not to use such tools in this competition,” said an unnamed official from Naver. “The first-round winners who used AI tools will not be allowed to use the systems in the second round.”