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Not so long ago, the main concern of the animation industry would have been the return of COVID. However, for more than a year now, the tiny virus seems to be the least of the animation industry’s concerns as artificial intelligence looms over an anxious sector, in the wake of one of the longest strikes in Hollywood history.
In a survey on AI conducted by Manchester Animation Festival, 85% of surveyed professionals consider AI to be a threat to the creative industry. A panel gathered at the festival’s Animation Nation Forum in November to address this major trend. So, if AI is here to stay, which seemed obvious to every panelist, how does the animation industry plan to resist the siren song of less expensive creation and cost-cutting techniques, while preserving its own creativity and freedom?
The panel featured David Holt, one of the U.K.’s foremost animation voice talents, who recently discovered that his voice was made available by the Uberduck text-to-voice software; Pinar Oruc, a lecturer at the University of Manchester who specializes in intellectual property law; Hameed Adigun, director of the animation company Ronu Creative; Jack Leigh, owner and creative director of Eight Engines; and London animation studio Blue Zoo’s co-founder, Tom Box. The latter three are all working with AI today and trying to find ethical ways to integrate the technology into their workflow.
From Fear to Understanding
Festival director Steve Henderson’s mention of the AI-generated anxiety in the U.K. industry was no surprise to the group. As David Holt pointed out, “For me, as a performer, this generative process is, in a way, quite amusing. But it has massive implications. Acting is not only my profession; it is also my craft and my life. Even if technology makes it possible for me to stay on my couch and earn money from AI-generated derivatives of my voice, I would never want that. And I think it can hurt the industry. It’s a bit of a Wild West right now.” Equity (U.K.’s trade union for the performing arts and entertainment industries) surveyed its members on AI earlier this year and 93% of the audio sector considered it a threat, reported Holt.
On the other hand, AI may also be used to preserve careers or boost creativity. As Tom Box noted, “AI could be used to prevent a young actor losing his job after his voice cracked. The question is: Where do you draw the line? Generative AI is a tool that can be used for enhancement, better physics simulation. It all depends on what part of the pipeline you’re talking about and where you put these new tools to use.”
This perspective was shared by Hameed Adigun, who has been exploring AI as a tool to expedite storyboarding. “We want to use AI to allow creatives to do less boring stuff, while knowing that there are decisions AI cannot make. The human element will always be necessary. An AI [tool] cannot tell you what is ‘cool’ or not, but it can help relieve the teams and allow for more creativity. And most of the people are already using it without truly knowing it.”
According to the MAF survey, while only 21% of surveyed people are currently using AI in their workflow, 49% of them think it could be useful in their animation pipelines. Tools cited were ChatGPT (31%), MidJourney (20%), Dall-E (17%) and Adobe Firefly (15%). “There is a difference between using Adobe to enhance [a] background or to add a brick wall in a shot and using MidJourney to create whole new images,” Adigun noted. “The industry has to agree upon where to draw that line. The discussion is about the transparency about those models and where we put them to use.”
Jack Leigh pointed out, “AI is also a way to lower the barrier for entry. These tools can open doors to new storytellers, new people previously barred from animation because of the technical skill it requires.”
That doesn’t mean that quality standards are going to go down, though. “There will probably be more quantity than quality in the beginning,” said Box. “But, in a way, it makes our own work look better.”
Global Tools with Local Legal Challenges
Besides employment-related anxieties, AI also raises many copyright questions. These are inquiries that Pinar Oruc has been tackling for some time in the U.K. “[The] issues with AI-created material is that, if you want to copyright it, who is the author? And that varies between countries. In the U.S., there has to be a human author for art to be copyrighted; it’s not as simple in the U.K. or the E.U. Who then is the author? Is it the creator of the tool, the person responsible for typing the prompts of the AI itself?” Oruc said. “And there are also specifics laws on training data, which is at the heart of the generative AI process. The E.U. has adopted exceptions, such as opt-out options for writers and artists, so that their works cannot be used to train AI. But it is a truly fast industry and these things take time. That is why, in the U.K., institutions around [intellectual property] are asking the stakeholders for their input and their experience in order to adapt laws efficiently.”
This opinion is shared by a large majority of the industry. “In order to tackle these challenges and reduce anxiety, we want to work with other people in our industry to create some kind of manifesto,” said Box, who is also chair of ScreenSkills’ Animation Skills Council.
Eye on the Future
Beyond that panel, AI was also mentioned many times during the events of the week. Mark Taylor, co-managing director of A Productions, commented on the latest trend in AI-generated pitches. “The problem is that it makes for great pitches, and of course you can do it on your phone in about 10 minutes. But at the end of the day, it’s not doable as a project,” Taylor said.
And although AI cannot — and will probably not — replace creators and skilled artists, it may be able to provide better content and better jobs. As Taylor noted, “In the 2000s, a lot of rotoscoping animation was outsourced from the U.K. to cheaper countries and people were scared that this would make for less entry-level jobs in animation. It didn’t materialize; instead, it opened up animation jobs and graduates filled them directly. AI may have the same positive outcome.”
While presenting the trailblazing African studio Kugali Media in a separate panel, Hamid Ibrahim addressed the issues facing animators in Africa, a continent filled with talent and potential but still riddled by a lack of funding. “At Kugali, our AI stance is that the technology may be used as reference, but not further,” said Ibrahim. “I’m obviously worried about it, as I know the AI companies are set out to replace creatives, and if it’s proven that creatives surpass AI, the technology will simply disappear. But I hope that, as in other industries, creativity and craftsmanship will prevail and make it even a higher standard.”
So, what’s next? For this group of panelists, the future may be brighter. Reacting to recent comments made by former DreamWorks chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, Box didn’t think AI will cut animation crews by 90%. “Having AI as a tool will increase productivity and quality. I think the problem is, at the moment anyone who is comfortable with the use of AI is not talking right now. But it is a new technology, much like 3D was. Why should we not use it?”
Manchester Animation Festival’s survey on AI is due to be released later this month. You find out more at manchesteranimationfestival.co.uk.
