Cai Aga caused controversy by comparing her son's portrait, and netizens debated the value of AI and creators

2026/06/23 07:05

[Reporter Qiu Yiqin/Reporting from Taipei] Millionaire YouTuber Cai Aga recently posted portraits of his two sons Cai Taogui and Cai Boneng. Originally he just wanted to interact with fans, but he unexpectedly caused controversy! He originally spent 200 yuan to hire a painter to draw portraits of children, and then used AI to generate works of a similar style, and opened fans' votes for comparison. Netizens questioned whether he was pitting creators against AI, and they all angrily said, "It doesn't respect professionalism!"

Cai Aga shared the works of street painters and used AI to generate works of similar styles for comparison. (The combined photo has been mosaic processed and taken from IG)

Cai Aga recently shared the artist's facial painting work for Cai Taogui and Cai Boneng in a limited-time dynamic, and revealed that the work cost 200 yuan to complete. Later, he uploaded a similar style image generated by AI, saying that it only took 1 minute to complete, and opened fans to vote for comparison. The options were "AI wins" and "The painter wins! Not replaced by AI!" In the end, the artist's work won. Cai Aga also praised: "So handsome!"

However, after the relevant picture was forwarded to Threads, many netizens were dissatisfied. They all believed that comparing the artist's work with the content generated by AI was disrespectful. "Why should I compare the technology I have studied for many years with AI?", "As a creator, I should know more about respecting professionalism", "It's really rude", and "It's sad to see painters being compared like this." Controversies broke out on social media.

Cai Aga spent 200 yuan to hire a street painter to paint portraits of Cai Taogui and Cai Boneng. (The combined photo has been mosaic processed and taken from IG)

However, another group of netizens relieved Cai Aga's cheeks, believing that he did not belittle the painter, but instead highlighted the value of real creators through voting. "In the end, the painter clearly won," "He also praised the artist for painting well!", "I can't see any disrespect," and "On the contrary, it proves that AI cannot replace human warmth." There were obvious differences in the opinions of netizens from the two groups, and this originally relaxed parent-child interaction unexpectedly turned into a discussion about the value of AI and creation.