DC Comics’ president and publisher, Jim Lee, has affirmed that the company “will not support AI-generated storytelling or artwork,” committing to a future reliant on human creativity. At his New York Comic Con panel on Wednesday, Lee reassured fans, “Not now, not ever, as long as [SVP, general manager] Anne DePies and I are in charge,” comparing concerns about AI overtaking creative industries to past fears like the Millennium bug and the NFT buzz.
“People instinctively recognize what feels genuine. We shy away from what seems fake. That’s the significance of human creativity,” Lee explained. “AI doesn’t dream. It doesn’t feel. It doesn’t create art. It compiles it.”
Despite DC’s longstanding requirement for artwork to be original and artistically crafted, the company has dealt with controversies surrounding suspected AI use in variant comic book covers. Disapproval from those worried that AI could replace writers and artists prompted DC to swap out the questioned covers, likely reinforcing its firm stance against generative AI in future endeavors.
“Anyone can draw a cape. Anyone can write a hero. Comics have always included that. It’s known as fanfiction, and there’s nothing wrong with it,” Lee stated. “But Superman only truly belongs in the DC universe. Our universe, our mythos. That’s what lasts. That’s what will carry us into the future.”
