#poca chat

tl;dr— the AI camp student team handles a third of the exhibition unbeknownst to the author (DS Back/백덕수). there's no genAI used for the character art but the artist (Uoongpig/웅돼지) was given an impossibly tight deadline. the korean gdcg fandom still wants us to boycott in solidarity with the author.

hm. word is out that kwbooks used generative AI for the gdcg popup/exhibition that starts next week. and from the photos turning up, it wasn't even handled by a professional team? it seems like they let their students/trainees take full reins as "practice" the winning team of students from a government funded AI skills training camp handle a third of the exhibition to build their portfolio.

no confirmation yet as to whether the new standing illustrations themselves were also AI generated (with touch ups) or if the usage was limited to the SFX in the exhibition hall, but it's honestly not looking great as of now. (concerning amount of art/design inconsistencies, weird shirt collars and buttons, WEIRD HANDS)

EDIT: apparently none of the art was AI generated, and they were all done by the artist who drew the illustrations…? if i'm being fully honest i would've never guessed it because of how different the quality was from their other works, but it's said they were put on a tight time crunch by kwbooks.

i recommend you go to the actual tweet to read the details, but the gist is:

the exhibition/popup will now be made free. this decision was approved by DS Back (백덕수/ BDS)

you still need to pay for a ticket to reserve a time slot, but the money will be fully reimbursed after the ticketing period ends (9/23, 14:00 KST)

this new policy also applies to everyone who still didn't cancel their reservation before this announcement

people who canceled their reservation before 9/21 (the initial deadline to get your full money back) will still get refunded, but their original tickets are invalid

kwbooks will no longer be collaborating with the NCA (new contents academy) itself for this popup, and they instead signed a separate contract with the winning team (비네트). kwbooks once again apologizes for not letting BDS know any of this beforehand

according to kwbooks, the NCA training camp was not only focused on AI, but any type of new creative technology.

the NCA winning student team (비네트) did not use generative AI, as their specialty was "interactive media contents"

ends with another apology for disappointing both BDS and her fans, and a promise to reevaluate their internal processes/management to make sure this never happens again

(Edit: Please check my reblog for more employee reviews that were posted to the forum within the past few days.)

As of July 27, 2023 (3 PM PDT), the official LCB Twitter account still hasn't posted English or Japanese translations of the message by Project Moon CEO (Kim Jihoon) announcing their decision to fire story CG artist Vellmori.

In the subsequent chaos following her unjust expulsion, I've seen a significant number of the global fanbase pity KJH/PM and assume that firing Vellmori was a poor but well-intentioned response to protect PM employees.

However, PMoon has long been a less than ideal place to work for both outside contractors (see testimonies from the WonderLab and Leviathan artists) as well as their full-time employees.

Below is a workplace review of Project Moon from September 2022 by a current employee, which talks in depth about KJH's regular temper tantrums in the office and subpar treatment of the PMoon team.

Translation by me, a native Korean speaker. (source here)

This review was posted to a forum that can ONLY be accessed if you have a verified and active employee email address to a game company. While the forum is anonymous, it requires you to reveal your place of employment, which lends credence to its validity.

This, combined with other testimonies, has led people to believe that KJH will not recant his decision, as there's credible evidence that documents his temperamental outbursts, one-sided contract cancellations, and continued refusal to provide a healthy work environment.