The Role of AI in the Animation Industry

The recent emergence of AI platforms like Midjourney, Chat GPT, DALL-E 2, and Lensa App has sparked a mix of reactions in the animation industry. While some are excited about the potential of these tools, others worry about the impact on their careers… Especially in the creative industry.

AI-generated artwork made a significant impact on the art and design scene in the past year. However, there is still a lot of scepticism about using AI in a professional context, particularly when it comes to ownership of the artwork. The fact that deep-learning algorithms are fed a litany of images from online sources, many of which were created by human artists and fed into the engine without their consent. 

Although some would argue that “don’t all artists reference each others’ work?”.  Unanswered questions such as this cause division and confusion. Therefore, these ethical lines and the grey area in between need to be clearly defined and reconciled as technology continues to evolve. 

So, what are other animators' and creatives’ responses?

Although the confusion and uncertainty still remain, we’ve seen a lot of artists and animation studios adopting the mindset of looking at  AI as another tool in their toolbox that they can use to improve their craft rather than looking at it as a threat. This is the mindset we are approaching it with too and we will delve into this more down below.

In this article, we will talk about how we overcame our resistance to the change, and how we plan to adopt AI into our animation development process.

**Just before we get started** 

We just want to caveat by saying that we don’t have all the answers and this is our take on how we think we could integrate this technology. It's important to remember that AI-generated animation is still in the early stages of development and its integration into the animation process should be approached with caution, especially when it comes to storytelling and emotional content. We think a balance between AI and human creativity is key to unlocking the full potential of these tools.

Now that’s out of the way, let’s dive in! 

Apprehensions from the Surge of AI-generated Art

A few months ago we all witnessed an outburst of AI-generated art, sweeping across every social media platform. Whilst it seemed harmless to the public, it certainly made some alarm bells ring and even we felt worried about how it could influence the future of the creative industry. 

The reality is though, whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay and it will only get bigger and even more influential.

Way Forward

Being open-minded to the change that is inevitable

So rather than resisting the inevitable, how can we implement it effectively to offer our clients more value? How do we align it with our vision so it does become a tool, rather than the enemy? This is the mindset we’ve adopted because we had to be open-minded to truly see the possibilities ahead.

Adapting AI to our animation development process

While these AI tools are not truly "creative" in the traditional sense, they can aid creative individuals and artists in their workflow. Here are the ways in which we plan to experiment with AI in our animation development process in the short term.

1. Industry Research: Whether for internal implementation or to better understand the industry of our clients, AI allows for faster research and consolidation of information on specific subjects.
2. Concept Development: Early on in projects we could showcase curated work to clients to pitch certain styles or to acquire feedback. Using AI image generation could allow for faster and far more specific curation. Even if used internally to generate visual ideas, there are a lot of scopes here for implementation.
3. Pitching: When constructing a proposal for clients, sometimes, a creative studio will put together samples, brainstorm ideas or even narrative developments to ‘sell’ the idea. AI could be used to generate these first-pass rough ideas to streamline the pitching process. This reduces internal risk as not as much time is lost if the pitch goes to another studio.
4. Alternate Art Work: It is possible to feed these AI engines' your existing artwork to generate alternate images. For example: “What would this character look like with bunny ears? If they were female? What if they were from space?”. You can focus on creating ‘anchor’ artwork which then feeds future possibilities.

These are just a few of the ways we’re curious to explore whether or not AI will assist or hinder the creative process.

But what about outside of production? What about marketing and sales?

1. Social Media Creative: Using AI to generate multiple variants of deliverables, based on your original set of designs. This approach allows the AI to come up with new looks and iterations of a theme, while also allowing human hands to create new, unseen looks.
2. Copy: AI can write basic copy when creating frameworks for social content, articles or even web copy.
3. Ideation: Generating ideas for trending topics to discuss on social media, in video or on the website.

Overall, AI is a valuable tool that can enhance our animation development process, rather than replace it.

Do we think that AI will replace the animation team/industry?

No.

Well, not yet. Who’s to say what will happen fifty years from now?

AI platforms can produce impressive results, but they still require a skilled human operator to formulate the right prompts and plan desired outcomes.

The human touch, connection, and trust built with clients and collaborators cannot be replicated by AI. In the end, people buy from people, it’s up to us as people to leverage the benefits AI provides so we can do our work, even better than before.

While these AI platforms represent a significant technological advancement, it is important to be aware of the potential consequences and implications. We recommend that you keep up to date on the latest AI Bill of Rights and read the fine print before you start generating images or start using these platforms.

Our closing thoughts

The use of AI in creative processes has sparked varied reactions among creative communities, with some embracing it as a welcome addition and others rejecting it outright. Regardless of individual perspectives, it is clear that AI has created a buzz and will continue to evolve and offer new possibilities in the field.

These tools have the potential to speed up the creative process and generate impressive results, but it is important to understand the nuances, limitations and ethical issues involved in working with them. 

We believe that by staying informed and engaged, we can best understand and harness the power of AI to enhance our creative work because whether we like it or not, AI is here to stay.

So, what are your thoughts? Let us know by commenting on our social media or via e-mail!