To fight off the growing problem of anime and manga piracy, the Japanese government has announced an ambitious AI initiative. The country’s agency for cultural affairs has allocated 300 million yen (~US$2 million) to develop an AI-powered detection system that will work to identify and remove pirated content from the internet.

This online image scanning system aims at applying AI to learn layouts, advertisements, and more concerning the contents of pirated websites.

According to an Agency for Cultural Affairs spokesperson, identifying pirated sites through human efforts alone is limited because of the time and costs involved. The AI system, in this case, is positioned as a game changer in creators’ rights and reducing the number of pirated sites.

While the AI initiative may seem promising, the Japanese government is carrying concerns as there is always a probability that improperly trained AI systems can flag legitimate websites or content.