Artists Flock to Anti-AI Art Platform

The digital art world witnessed an unexpected phenomenon last weekend when TEGAKI (meaning "hand-drawn"), a new illustration platform banning all AI-generated content, launched to overwhelming demand. Within hours of opening on January 13, over 5,000 creators had registered - completely overwhelming servers built to handle just 50 anticipated users.

A Digital Refuge for Traditional Art

Developed by independent engineer-artist Tochi, TEGAKI positions itself as a sanctuary for purely human-created artwork. Unlike mainstream platforms that blend AI and traditional works, every piece uploaded must pass rigorous verification:

• Submission of timelapse videos showing creation process
• Original work files demonstrating manual creation
• Strict bans on any AI-assisted elements

The platform's appeal became immediately clear when registration queues stretched for hours before the site ultimately crashed. "We're humbled and overwhelmed," Tochi shared via temporary status updates.

Technical Safeguards Against AI Scraping

TEGAKI implements multiple protections rarely seen on art platforms:

Access Controls:

• Blocks major AI crawlers (GPTBot, CCBot, Google-Extended)
• Prevents bulk downloads through rate limiting

Content Protection:

• Disables right-click saving and image dragging
• Uses meta tags to opt-out of AI training datasets

The measures address growing concerns among artists about their work being used without consent to train generative AI models.

Not Anti-Tech, Pro-Human Creativity

Tochi emphasizes TEGAKI isn't rejecting technology wholesale: "We use AI tools ourselves for site maintenance and coding. This is about preserving space for human creativity to flourish without being drowned out."

The platform's explosive debut suggests many share this vision. As one early user commented: "Finally somewhere I can share my drawings without wondering if they'll become AI training data tomorrow."

The team hasn't announced when servers will stabilize, but interest continues growing across Japanese art communities.

Key Points:

• Overwhelming demand: 5,000+ signups crashed servers on launch day
• Strict verification: Requires video proof artworks are hand-drawn
• Technical protections: Blocks AI scrapers and prevents bulk downloads
• Balanced approach: Uses AI for operations while protecting human art