Japan has initiated an ambitious project wherein it plans to use AI techniques to keep an eye on sites that offer pirated versions of anime and manga, The Japan Times reported. With the rising popularity of manga, there has also been a spurt in piracy of manga and anime content that is believed to cost the industry billions of dollars every year.

As some publishers have claimed, there are about a thousand websites currently in operation that are engaged in manga piracy. They allow users to download manga, usually, the ones that are most in demand globally, completely free of cost. Needless to say, this deprives the original content creators of their rightful share of the revenue that they deserve for their creativity.

The publishers also stated the majority of such websites, or 70 percent to be precise, that are in the business of offering pirated manga and anime content operate in foreign languages such as  English, Chinese, and Vietnamese. With manga popularity ever on the rise, there are always those who would like to snag the latest copy of popular manga titles for free.

However, keeping a tab on the websites manually is a huge endeavor, one that takes a lot of time and effort to make it feasible. This is where AI comes into the picture. The Cultural Affairs Agency in Japan has earmarked a budget of ¥300 million or $2 million in a project that aims to detect illegal content using image and text detection algorithms.

All of this, Japan feels will help it achieve its target of exporting cultural assets such as manga and anime worth ¥20 trillion by 2033. This forms part of the “Cool Japan” strategy that the government had revealed earlier in June. Earlier in 2022, the segment’s exports had reached ¥4.7 trillion.

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