On January 13, the illustration website TEGAKI (meaning "hand-drawn"), which completely bans AI-generated content, officially launched. This type of creative platform, similar to Pixiv, has gained popularity among Japanese creators due to its "AI-free" feature. On the first day of its launch, over 5,000 users registered, far exceeding the expected 50, directly causing the website to crash. As of the time of writing, TEGAKI has entered maintenance mode, and the date of re-opening remains undetermined.
TEGAKI was developed by independent engineer and artist Tochi, positioning itself as a "safe haven" for human-created art. It completely prohibits AI-generated or AI-assisted images, whether traditional or digital art. To ensure the purity of the content, the platform has a strict verification system, requiring creators to submit time-lapse videos and work files to prove that their works are hand-drawn.
In terms of preventing AI learning, TEGAKI has implemented multiple protective measures: it blocks mainstream AI crawlers such as GPTBot, CCBot, and Google-Extended from accessing the site, sets meta tags on all pages to prevent AI learning, blocks suspicious bulk access, and disables right-click and drag functions to prevent image downloads.
Notably, Tochi emphasized that TEGAKI is not against "AI technology itself." The website also uses AI code during development, maintenance, and operational support. "Technology is just a tool, and I believe how it is used depends on each individual," Tochi said. The initial purpose of developing TEGAKI was to create a communication platform for people who like hand-drawing and traditional creation methods, providing a safe environment.
This incident reflects the impact of AI-generated content on traditional creative fields and the strong demand from artists for protecting original works and creative space. The popularity of TEGAKI also shows that, in the current era of AI art proliferation, pure human-created content still holds unique value and market demand.
