A March report from Anime News Network has recently resurfaced, and the usage of AI tools in localization is once again at the forefront of a heated discussion.
RIDI, one of the biggest content platforms in South Korea, is also the parent company of the English-language webtoon platform Manta. As reported on ANN, Prodifi, a subsidiary of RIDI, has launched an AI tool for localization. It claims that the tool will simplify the localization process and reduce localization costs.
Per Prodifi CEO Ahn Kwang-soo, this process “typically requires significant resources and manpower.” RIDI, Manta, Kakao Entertainment, and LEZHIN are listed as Prodifi’s customers on the official website.
This is not the first time AI use in localization—including machine translation and AI-generated and placed text—has met with backlash and calls for replacement with localization done by professionals in the field.
Crunchyroll was repeatedly under fire for its machine-translated subtitles and its involvement with OOONA, an Israeli-owned AI company. Manga publishers and providers, such as Manga Plus, have tried to rely on AI tools for certain series, only to update the chapters later.
Readers and localization professionals have criticized the decline in the quality of their favorite works while subscription costs and fees are increasing; the fact that wages are decreasing despite the increasing workload; that companies sneaking in these changes instead of being transparent; and the environmental cost needed to upkeep AI.
RIDI’s investment in AI tools through Prodifi and many webtoon platforms embracing generative AI to cut costs at the detriment of quality leaves readers between a rock and a hard place. In recent years, fans have become increasingly vocal in supporting creators through reading or watching on official platforms. The rise in the number of platforms and publishers entering the industry has undoubtedly given readers numerous options to choose from and an increasing demand for more localization workers.
However, when companies behind these platforms are too eager to embrace AI when their readers—who are ultimately customers—are dead set on not wanting AI involvement, it becomes hard for reades to advocating for support. They don’t want revenue going into AI research instead of the actual people who create and localize webtoons, the works that make these platforms possible and profitable in the first place.
The reason why RIDI’s case caused more stir is that even if the readers call for a boycott of the US-based platforms and advocate for buying the official series in Korean or Japanese, the argument fails when the platform where the original webtoon is serialized is investing in AI, leaving readers with no choice. As a result, many are cancelling their subscriptions.
We are still far from a definitive method for determining AI use in translation, and its prevalence even in creative fields has sown mass distrust. As a result, readers are constantly looking for tell-tale signs of possible AI involvement.
The discussion around AI, webtoons as a creative industry, and localization as labor won’t be dying anytime soon. It’s a good sign that readers are involved, demand fair wages and quality work done by creators and localization professionals. We can only wait and see whether their demands and reasons for opposition will be heard by the companies.
Image source: Prodifi
