The future of AI-nimation

Animation has evolved enormously over the course of its history, from stop-motion to hand-drawn 2D animation to 3D CGI. Now a new, and controversial, way to produce animated content is emerging –through AI. But should we fear it, or is it just another tool to assist human creativity? By

In 1995, Walt Disney Pictures and Pixar Animation Studios released the first ever feature-length animated film to be made entirely with computer-generated imagery (CGI). The response to Toy Story was huge –kids loved it and adults were amazed that high-quality animation could be produced by a computer.

Nearly 30 years on and the use of CGI in animation is commonplace; no longer marvelled at, but a standard method of producing animated series and films. But technological advancements in the production of animation have not stopped there. In 2023, the industry is faced with the terrifying or incredible – depending on

“We’re robbing ourselves of someone else’s story, someone else’s experience when using AI and we’re robbing the next generation. If people are using AI to create and generate ideas, they need to take a good hard look at why they’re in this industry in the first place.

Colin Williams Sixteen South

which way you look at it – prospect of animated productions that are created using artificial intelligence (AI). And not just the animation part, but the scripts too.

Some of those working in animation are appalled by the notion of a machine creating content for arguably the most important audience there is –children – and fear AI will take human jobs, while others see the tech as a ground-breaking new way of making animated projects that is efficient, streamlined and a natural step in the evolution of the medium.

“I can’t think of any reason you would want to introduce AI into production. It removes art and it removes the human touch,” says Colin Williams, founder and creative director of Belfast-based animation studio Sixteen South, which is behind animated children’s series including Odo for Paramount-owned Channel 5’s Milkshake!.

so cheap and disposable it becomes instantly forgettable? Are we literally going to lose the very craft we create?

“We should be telling stories that are going to impact kids, that can mould and shape the next generation. We take so long to get stories right and we reject stories that are good but have no heart. AI does not do emotions. It doesn’t really understand comedy or humour. It doesn’t understand telling stories of hope.

Karolina Kaminska

use AI to write the first draft of a st

“I was talking to a producer who mentioned they were going to try to rst draft of a story and then rework it. I think that’s the worst idea in the world. What do we have left? What are we creating that is going to have any kind of staying power? Are we creating anything iconic? Or are we making stuff that is

“We’re robbing ourselves of someone else’s story, someone else’s experience [when using AI] and we’re robbing the next generation. If people are using AI to create and generate ideas, they need to take a good hard look at why they’re in this industry in the first place.”

Animation is expensive and timeconsuming to produce, but using AI to speed up the process could save both time and money, making it an attractive proposition to some producers. Williams fears this could lead to a trend for cheap content that would undermine the value of handmade work. “Everybody is looking for ways to make animation cheaper and to make it faster. Broadcasters are cutting licence fees and it’s getting harder to get a show financed. If there are any production savings, people take them,” he says.

“You can see in so many kids’ shows out there, the quality of acting in animation, the quality of writing and the quality of production are all dropping because people are trying to cut corners to do things cheaply. AI is a technology that will allow people to do stuff even cheaper again, so some people will use it.

“But it hurts and jeopardises a whole industry. If people get used to buying content that is cheaply made, do they stop to see the value in proper handmade work? It could start a landslide.”

Earlier this year, Netflix in Japan made a short anime film called The Dog & The Boy, which used AIgenerated art for its backgrounds. The streamer said it was an experiment in response to labour shortages in the anime industry, but the film caused outrage among anime fans, who accused Netflix of using AI to avoid paying human artists.

US-based children’s entertainment company Genius Brands International is another firm to have started experimenting with AI in its kids’ content. It is set to launch Kidaverse Fast Facts, a series of short animated educational stories, on its YouTube and social media outlets, as well as its linear network Kartoon Channel!. Kidaverse Fast Facts was made using AI for scripts, images, voice and animation with technology such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT chatbot.

In May, Genius Brands will launch a series of animated shorts based on its series Secret Millionaires Club, which teaches children financial literacy and stars an animated version of US business magnate Warren Buffett. The shorts spin-off, called Secret Millionaires Club Minis, will be produced using AI by Genius Brands’ Genius AI Studio.

“A few of us were playing around with [ChatGPT extension] TurboGPT in the office and we realised it could be a tool to make factual content, also animation, but factual content initially,” says Paul Robinson, MD of Kartoon Channel! Worldwide. “The idea with Kidaverse Fun Facts is that we’re using the app to do some of the primary research, so thinking about ideas and concepts. For example, if you want facts for kids about history, you could ask, ‘What are the 10 essential history facts that kids must know? som ca te un it in “It’s save time prim stimulus to Ideas often be Robinson know?’ It will come up with some things and then you can ask, ‘How should I tell this story so kids will understand it?’ and it’ll do it in kid-centred language. “It’s very efficient. It does save time, but it also gives you richer primary research and more stimulus to think of other things. Ideas often beget other ideas.”

Despite the efficiencies of AI, Robinson insists it is not a replacement for human creativity but rather an enhancement and tool to work in collaboration with the people who make animation. He adds that Genius Brands will not reduce the size of its production teams or cut jobs as it integrates AI into the business.

“AI absolutely does not replace humans,” the exec says. “Editorial still has to be created by great writers, great editors and great producers. AI is a tool in the same way that, 30 years ago, if you wanted to do research, you’d have to go to the library. This is just another tool that takes it to the next level and helps you do the job better.

“You can’t create AI that’s got the passion of a human being. It’s a privilege to be serving kids and you need to make sure you are presenting good role models. I don’t think using AI will produce content that’s samey or dull or lacking emotion or passion, because you still need human beings to do that. Using AI does not in any way imply we are putting our children’s futures in the hands of a piece of code that no one can see.

“What you have to be careful about is not thinking of it just as a money-saving thing. We’re seeing it as a way of making better content, not about saving money. It does make things quickeryou can get things on air more quickly so you can get to market quicker than if you were doing it the conventional way, which also means you can be more responsive [to new trends.]” of the about ple, istory, he 10 must at’s Using hildren’s e can see.

Cardiff-based Cloth Cat Animation, whose credits include animated series

The Rubbish World of Dave Spud for ITV’s children’s channel CITV, has also been playing around with ChatGPT, according to the studio’s MD Jon Rennie. Rennie has mixed opinions on the use of AI in animation, viewing it as a tool to automate certain tasks but not to create stories.

“I and Cloth Cat have always been very open to experimenting with technology. We do real-time rendering and use a lot of pipeline management tools that often aren’t used in animation but are used in visual effects,” he says.

“I played around with ChatGPT. I challenged it to write some outlines for a particularly well-known project that somebody else had done, just because I thought it would have more information about that project. It came and sanity-checking your work, but it’s not a creative tool. It would be a very good streamlining tool where it can do it more intelligently than some of the algorithms you currently use to clean up audio, for example, or something like that. But I’m not going to use it for writing anything. De fi nitely not. I want to be able to talk to somebody to do that.

“I don’t think AI is going to replace animators anytime soon. Everyone thought motion capture would replace actors, but of course it didn’t. AI is just another way of automating some of the repetitive things we do. It might speed up certain things like lip sync or we could train it to look for problems and then tell us to fix them. That could be really useful because it would solve a lot of production problems and save us time and money.” out of talent, culture and people. And that’s how we want to do it. But I’m eagerly listening to the conversation that’s going on [around AI]. I want to keep an open mind about any kind of technological advancements, such as with tools that can make our pipeline more efficient, so we can put our creative efforts in the right place. I would consider using AI but I haven’t found where yet,” he says.

The use of AI in animation is a contentious topic, but whether you’re in support of it or not, there is, as Rennie points out, a huge legal grey area in that AI is fuelled by existing data and therefore cannot produce content that is original. Net fl ix’s The Dog & The Boy also came under fi re for that reason, with critics accusing the streamer of stealing other people’s artwork.

Harlin sees a potential for AI to be used in a similar way to animation software like Toon Boom which can animate between keyframes. “You, as an artist, are making the decisions about those keyframes and the software is doing the in-betweens for you. Those have become industrywide standard tools now,” he says, adding that AI might also have a place as a tool for dubbing.

“Of course, it would need a human hand to edit to make sure it was working nicely, but it could do some of the heavy lifting at the beginning. Also, if you’ve written a script and you need a 300-word synopsis of it or a log line, you could ask for prompts. I would imagine that for certain jobs like that it could be a good assistant.” up with some outlines and then I challenged it to write a script. It was fun, but it doesn’t make jokes – it’s very plot driven. Then I challenged it to make it more dramatic and add in something that goes wrong. And it did that, but none of it was complex. I wasn’t reading something I wanted to see on screen.

“In the end, AI is only as good as the information it’s fed. It’s not going to give you any surprises. It could be very good for error-checking

“That’s where you’re going to get issues,” Rennie says. “How much you are influenced by another piece of artwork has always been a legal grey area. The only way AI can work is by taking other artwork and consuming it. At what level now is this considered new artwork? It may result in copyright being tightened up.”

In Helsinki, Anttu Harlin, CEO and founder of Gigglebug, the animation studio behind The Unstoppable Yellow Yeti for Disney, says he is openminded about using AI as a tool to improve efficiencies in animation, but stresses the importance of human talent and creativity.

“As a studio, we’ve built everything

Clearly a lot of work, research and experimentation still needs to be done to determine the future of AI in animation. But what is certain is that a level of concern remains around how exactly it is used.

Genius Brands’ Robinson predicts AI will become a regular tool in TV and movie production, including the kids’ sector. “There are probably going to be many other tools we haven’t thought of yet that will become tools in the future,” he says.

Whether you’re in favour of using AI in animation or not, one thing seems to remain clear. In the words of Sixteen South’s Williams, when creating content with passion and meaning, particularly for children, “nothing replaces the human touch.”

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