I promise you, this is a story about AI art.
At the Brisbane edition of Oz Comic-Con over the weekend, stallholder Bowie Chong is alleged to have bitten the arm of an attendee and “latched on” after being accused of selling AI-generated imagery at his booth.
The ABC report that on Sunday afternoon, as the event was winding down, artist and vendor Victoria Manton-Williams confronted Chong and accused him of selling AI-generated images. When he told her to “fuck off”, a friend of Manton-Williams (who had been filming their encounter on their phone) shoved Chong, which is when he reportedly bit the friend before pushing Manton-Williams to the ground and kicking her in the arm.
The friend “went to the hospital to receive antibiotics for the bite”, after which Manton-Williams said “the whole encounter was bizarre”.
I’ve never actually heard of anyone getting bitten at a convention in general. I did not even think it was in the realm of possibility that when I went up to ask this guy a question that he would run out and bite someone. It’s not normal behaviour — not even cosplayers go around biting each other.
For what it’s worth, Oz Comic-Con says “all parties have been banned from the venue and future events”.
