The AI witch hunts are going further, now encapsulating the world of trading card games, specifically Disney’s Lorcana game. Artist James C. Mulligan has been a long-time oil painter, but he has now been accused of using AI at Anime NYC, resulting in his work being blacklisted from future Disney work.
It seems people are obsessing over determining whether work is AI or not, rather than simply enjoying art pieces for what they are. Artists scrambling to keep up with the budding technology are getting picked apart, whether human or not, being accused of AI like it’s some kind of crime to use the tech. Because so many humans are accused of AI and AI art is recognized as human, it’s become a situation that is not about the art itself in most situations.
Now, James C. Mulligan has been hit for using partially generated AI in a print that he was selling at Anime NYC. He has worked for Disney theme parks and done Lorcana TCG art in the past, but his mere use of it in a different context appears enough for a blacklist.
One person posted a lengthy thread to social media to cancel the artist:
“Hey so…this guy at #AnimeNYC just blatantly lied to me about not using gen AI in his work, then scammed my Mom off of several hundred dollars in prints.
“I asked him what his process was like and if he used gen AI or not and he said he didn’t, but I was just looking for AI because it’s like an ‘industry witch hunt to ruin people’s careers.’
“He told me used Procreate (the same software as me) and showed me his tablet. He pulled up the layers, which obviously showed that he drew the character, but the background was just a copy and pasted in image on the bottom layer.
“I then asked him if I could see the Timelapse replay, but he told me he didn’t record one. I have made over 700 illustrations using Procreate, so I KNOW for a fact that it AUTOMATICALLY saves a timelapse replay.”
“I told him this, and offered to show him how to access them. He then got mad at me and told me to leave. I got into a bad fight with my mom about it after, since he tricked her into thinking his process was all his own and that he did not use gen AI.
“Apparently, I’m the second person to bring this up (even though the con just started!) since gen AI is strictly against their rules for vendors. Shoutout to Stacy at the help desk for being absolutely lovely!
“I am so incredibly disappointed that someone working for such a large and artistically talented company would stoop so low as to blatantly lie to their customers. I was almost gaslit by him into thinking that he WASN’T using AI.
“If he would have told me that ‘I use some generative ai in designing my backgrounds, but the character art is mine’ then I would have been fine. Because that’s the truth. But he didn’t say that at all, and instead blatantly lied to me and my mom.
“If by some insane MIRACLE, he is not lying and is ACTUALLY NOT LYING ABOUT THIS, then I would love to see a timelapse, sketch, or literally any proof that he is not incorporating gen AI into his work like he says.”
Mulligan did not admit to using AI, but in a DM interaction shared with another fan he threatened legal action against the person stalking him.
“Thank you for your message. I have dispelled any reason to make the accusation with both close up photos of the originals, and process videos, so I’d suggest with any further concerns, (as this can be easily considered tortious interference) inquiries to be sent along to our attorneys,” he said.
The person countered,“In your statement you mentioned photos and process videos proving your work” and a request for him to “please share those for clarity”, Mulligan instead ended the conversation and once again raised the possibility of legal action:
He replied, “No. At this point we think the best course of action is to have our legal reach out to you. What’s a good email for them to contact you?”
Artist Phil Vie who works for the Lorcana company then chimed in to let people know the result of this blacklisting from the convention. He delved into the aritst’s Lorcana card work and claimed that they were indeed generated by AI.
“I actually work for the company that makes Disney Lorcana, so I will be bringing this up with my Creative Directors. We have a hard policy of no AI art in our games, and they will be able to asses further. However, it’s been very common ppl jump to these conclusions a lot,” he said.
He continued, adding to the accusation about AI, “So I did check in with my Director and it looks his work is indeed AI. Thankfully, he hasn’t worked with us on many sets after Disney notified us of his issue. Disney also won’t work with him anymore either and I’m sure will possibly get their legal involved.”
As this all came to a head, Mulligan deleted his personal website and has all but disappeared from the internet.
In a thread about the topic on Reddit, several users are noting that there are people going around threatening libel lawsuits over the discussions, including allegedly his wife threatening such on X for anyone commenting that it was AI art. This is a full blown cancel mob at this point, and the Reddit comments are nasty to the artist.
The thread has so many accusations against the artist, including getting angry at him for hand-painting over cards with character drawings, a common practice done by card game artists so fans can bling out their games. Even though this is standard business and human art, Redditors got outraged by it.
It’s clear this is a full-blown cancel mob, and the AI witch hunt is hurting real human artists and their careers. When will it stop?
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I don't think the interaction went down as described and I expect the artist being canceled got harassed by their accuser. Even those time lapse animations can be AI generated.
Mean and nasty attitudes are quite effective at getting people, especially when they did nothing wrong, to get their guards up.
It'll stop when the single brain-cell leftists latch onto the next crusade so they have a common enemy.
Then suddenly, the left will be all for AI as if they were never against it.