Manga artist loses a 3-year client over an AI image

Illustrator and manga artist Shinjo Akira published a short manga titled AI ni Sassoku Shigoto o Ubawareta Hanashi (The Story of How AI Took My Job Right Away) in which she recounts how a client who had been commissioning illustrations from her for three years stopped writing to her overnight. When she checked the client's website, she found an AI-generated image. The work has surpassed 6,300 likes on Instagram and has sparked reactions like "how shameless," "isn't that a copyright violation?" and "AI is less scary than humans."

The news was reported by the Japanese outlet Otonanswer, which interviewed the author. Shinjo Akira works as an illustrator, is an official blogger for NAPBIZ, and also works as a physical therapist. She publishes her works on Instagram and on her blog Sekaiichi Kudaranai Enikki (The Silliest Illustrated Diary in the World). She has released the manga Ie o Tatetara Jichikai ga Yabasugita (2022) and Tenshoku Shitara Shokuba ga Yabasugita (2025), both with KADOKAWA. In April 2026, she also published Uchūichi Kantan na Kashi Sōgu Ryōhō with Medical View.

The client's silence hurt more than the image itself

In the manga, the author explains that she had been receiving periodic commissions from the same client for three years. When she noticed that the messages had stopped without warning, she visited that company's website. There was the image. It wasn't one of her illustrations, but a piece generated with AI. "I can't say with one hundred percent certainty that they used my illustrations to train the AI and create that image," Shinjo explained in the interview. "What hurt the most was that after three years of working together, they disappeared without saying a word."

The author doesn't hide her frustration, but she also doesn't just complain. "No matter how much science and technology advance, connections between people and the bonds that form are still very important. I prefer to think that this cut off a bad relationship." Still, she adds: "Maybe the client didn't do it with bad intentions, and that's also sad."

AI is already part of her daily life

What's interesting about this case is that Shinjo Akira is not a radical anti-AI person. She herself uses AI tools in her routine: she asks it questions when her dog is sick, generates mini quizzes for her children's studies, uses it to create backgrounds for her manga, and in her work as a physical therapist, she uses it to summarize scientific articles and extract up-to-date information. "The recent development of AI is staggering. It's already embedded in daily life and work," she comments. "I used to see those headlines about '10 jobs AI will take away' as something distant. Not anymore."

And that's not the only consequence she has noticed. "In my case, flyer and portrait commissions have definitely decreased," she admits. The author doesn't blame technology in the abstract, but rather how it's used. "In the end, the one using AI is a human. It should be used properly. And since these risks exist, they need to be made clear in contracts. I take it as a lesson for myself."

Other illustrators' reactions

Shinjo says that several people have written to her sharing similar experiences. The comment that stuck with her the most was exactly that: "humans are scarier." She is also concerned that legislation is lagging behind technology. "I have the impression that laws are not advancing at the same pace," she says. This is not a new debate in the Japanese manga and illustration industry, where every few months a case emerges of publishers or companies accused of using AI without transparency. What's particular about this one is how everyday it is: there's no big publisher behind it, just a small working relationship that broke in silence.

The author closes with an idea that sums up her stance as a creator: "I believe manga should move the reader's heart. That's why I want to keep drawing real stories and emotions that AI cannot produce, without forgetting why I started." The full manga is available on her Instagram account, where she usually publishes this type of autobiographical vignettes with a tone that mixes humor and life fatigue.

Has something similar happened to you with a client or at work? Tell us in the comments.