New Osamu Tezuka-inspired manga created by AI to be published

A new manga plotted and designed by artificial intelligence that learned the artistic style of "Astro Boy" manga creator Osamu Tezuka will be published this week, a project sponsor said Wednesday. The manga "Paidon" to be released Thursday in the weekly comic magazine "Morning" was created by AI, which analyzed 65 works by Tezuka, including such classics as "Phoenix" and "Black Jack," according to Kioxia Holdings Corp., a memory chip maker that launched the project. By analyzing Tezuka's works, the AI generated character designs and basic storylines before professional creators added such elements as clothing and dialogue to complete the work. "I always felt sad whenever Osamu Tezuka fans said they could no longer enjoy new works by him. AI creating his new work … that's exactly the kind of (technologically advanced) world depicted in Tezuka's manga," the late author's son and video creator Makoto Tezuka, who contributed to the project, told a news conference in Tokyo.