KOCHI, Japan - As generative artificial intelligence rapidly spreads, organizers of cultural contests are searching for ways to keep their events going.
At last year's National High School Manga Competition, known as "Manga Koshien," a prize-winning entry was disqualified after complaints that an identical design was available online, raising concerns over AI use and copyright infringement.
To prevent a repeat of the incident, the Kochi prefectural government, which organizes the competition, has revised the contest rules to allow more time to verify winning entries.
It has set aside a day after the finals for screening and now requires participants to watch a video on copyright law in advance. Young staff have also been assigned to search for similar drawings online.
With the rule changes, "we hope that Manga Koshien will serve as a good opportunity to learn about copyright," said Toru Ota, director of the cultural promotion department at the Kochi prefectural government.
The revisions also shift the contest from a blanket ban on AI to allowing its limited use.
While entries consisting almost entirely of AI-generated drawings remain ineligible, using AI to develop ideas during the planning stage, for example, is permitted. "AI can become an effective tool if used properly," Ota said.
Applicants must pledge to comply with the contest guidelines when submitting their entries.
But one Kochi official acknowledged the revised rules still rely in part on the assumption that people will act in good faith. "To be honest, it's difficult to detect improper use," he said.
Ota stressed, "We want to preserve the competition's concept of having high school students create works based on their own ideas."
Kochi has a strong connection to manga culture, having produced several prominent artists such as the late Ryuichi Yokoyama, known for his "Fuku-chan" comic strip, and Takashi Yanase, creator of the enduringly popular "Anpanman."
The Sakaiminato Tourism Association in Tottori Prefecture ended its annual Yokai Senryu Contest, a poetry competition themed around Japan's folkloric "yokai" monsters, in February after a 20-year run, citing the difficulty of determining whether poems were written by humans or AI.
"We cannot take responsibility if a prize-winning poem is later found to have been written using AI. It was a panful decision," said Tetsuhito Yasui, editor-in-chief of the association. "Senryu and other writing contests may no longer be possible."
In contrast, the Shikoku Contents Video Festival, which began in 2007 to cultivate video creators, has allowed the use of AI since 2023.
An official at the Shikoku Bureau of Telecommunications, the Matsuyama-based branch of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications that organizes the festival, said, "We decided that skills in using AI should be evaluated along with other factors in the contest."
The use of AI is limited, and "we will examine its appropriateness on a case-by-case basis," he said.
Tatsuhiro Ueno, a professor of copyright law at Waseda University, praised the festival's approach of setting rules for the use of generative AI. But "it should be recognized that there are risks of unknowingly infringing copyright," he said.
As AI becomes more widespread, contests will enter a trial-and-error era, serving as places to compete in "not only creativity but also human originality," Ueno said.
