The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) , which represents and advocates for more than 5,000 artists, technicians, writers and production workers in the animation industry, has issued a report on the impact of generative AI on the industry and its human workforce. Titled “Critical Crossroads,” the report was created by TAG’s AI Task Force, assembled in April of 2023, and follows the impact study conducted by TAG and the Concept Art Association published in January.
“Since the founding of The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) more than 70 years ago, never have we encountered a situation with such a potentially dramatic impact on entertainment, art and animation as the advent of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI),” the report begins. An updated AI Survey issued to members in March of 2024 found that 67% of respondents did not feel favorably about GenAI being used in the workplace, with another 61% saying they were “extremely concerned about GenAI negatively affecting future job prospects.”
Citing the previously published “Future Unscripted” findings (linked above), “Critical Crossroads” notes that the animation roles most impacted by GenAI are character and environment design, 3D modeling and composing, and animation and rigging, with entry-level positions most at risk — meaning AI replacement is likely to disproportionately affect up-and-coming talents from underrepresented communities and less affluent backgrounds who already face challenges breaking into the industry.
As outlined in the new report, TAG member priorities gleaned from the updated survey include:
- Adding provisions to the collective bargaining agreement (CBA) that prohibit the use of GenAI to replace covered work. (100% of respondents.)
- Preventing studios from using TAG member work to train GenAI models. (87%)
- Advocating for staffing minimums and/or guaranteed weeks of employment as a means to address GenAI displacement. (75%)
- Ensuring any new GenAI-related work is covered by the CBA. (68%)
- Protecting members if they refuse to use GenAI technology. (67%)
- Indemnification from copyright infringement cases, protecting members from adverse impact on workplace diversity and entry-level jobs, and forcing studios to disclose datasets they use. (60%)
- Advocating for paid on-the-job training for new roles utilizing GenAI. (46%)
TAG’s AI Task Force presents in the report a six-pronged strategy to combat the encroaching tech threat: calls for labor & collective action, new legislation, tax incentives for human-made animation art, stronger federal regulation, raising public awareness and applying pressure through legal action.
Read the full “Critical Crossroads” report here.
