Why AI will NOT be taking Your Animation job

[@AaronBlaiseArt]

Check out over 600 hours of ART & ANIMATION Lessons on my site CreatureArtTeacher.com

[@ramizshould]

Thank you sir for your passion know.

[@TB-1927]

Thank you sir for an inspiring video. I am an animator in Vietnam still have plenty of things to learn and your speech really helps me understand more. AI are machines they just do quick process and boom done but it takes a human to make the character feels like really alive in the story and in the movie when the audience is watching.

[@sandstorm200]

Yes Ai won’t take over take animation

[@percy66]

@@ramizshould well I sure don't have a gorillion of hours of art training. Neither I had the opportunity to work at a big corporation, however AI make true my wish of convey my feelings and tell my history, it is not the media or medium what gives soul to an artwork, the artist gives it the soul

[@carkawalakhatulistiwa]

All work related to computers can all be automated by AI

[@BoomerZ.artist]

Keep telling everyone this. It's why people still love 2D animation, drawn by hand, even though 3D has taken over.

[@Brukner841]

great comment, a new 2d animation could come out tomorrow and win all the awards, and our hearts.

[@johnjungkook2721]

It doesn't have anything to do with 2D versus 3D, though. Media is based on the communication principle. As long as human conversation is still the most valued form of communication, human creativity will simply be worth more to society than machine "creativity" for the foreseeable future.

[@Brukner841]

@@johnjungkook2721 sure, that's why digitized brush strokes communicate so much versus 3D, we appreciate sincere human expression.

[@_B_E]

@@nightingale1207 Such a childish take, jesus christ. 3D takes just as much talent, skill, and effort to make as 2D. Broadly saying you hate an entire category of animation is so insanely ignorant. Get over yourself.

[@ArifRWinandar]

Even in 3D animation, emulating 2D animation is the new trend.

[@bblunder]

"It's only gonna go away if we let it go away." That's such a precious take on doing arts using old styles

[@ravenskystudios]

thank you sooo much Aaron for sharing your amazing expertise and creative talent I have a teenage son who animates on his own after school and he is laening so much from you!

[@AaronBlaiseArt]

So glad to hear it.

[@Phil_Langone_FilmArt]

I didn’t have this level of information in the early 90s. Your son is fortunate to have this kind of expertise so easily accessible. Good luck to him in this fun journey!

[@Sam-bn3dy]

​@@AaronBlaiseArtJohn 3:16 ; For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[@buzzardly1127]

This honestly makes me feel so much better about the current situation. I initially didn't think much of it, but as I saw more and more people supporting AI images over actual artists I did feel quite uncertain about what the future held for art and animation. But hearing you talk about it, given that you're one of my biggest inspirations really puts me at ease. Thank you for making this video Aaron!

[@paloma4444]

I wish I could believe him, but sadly I don't.

[@tnl-warrior3218]

No one ever supported ai over humans tho

[@dcp303]

@@paloma4444yea sadly I don’t think those outside of the bubble of the ML community truly see what is coming down the pipe in the next several years. It’s sad because these OGs like Aaron are absolute legends and I hope the craft doesn’t end with this last generation, but unfortunately animation like he’s describing there is probably about two-three papers away

[@ToneyCrimson]

I was contemplating if i should say this and ruin your day. But i think its better to know than live in ignorance. This whole video is cope, remember as many have already said "What you are seeing A.I doing now is the worst it will ever be".

[@WilczycaCzarownica]

Not only you I also worried about this. I'm graphic 3D, but I now into traditional drawing and recently I started to improve my fanarts and thinked about working at animation. But when AI started to be on top and everyone talked about "this is a future" and "you don't need to learn how to animate, because AI will do it for you" I felt horrible and unwanted.

[@Sherloki85]

You know how animation is called here in Italy? It's "animazione". It comes from the word "anima", meaning "soul". It means, in the end, to give a soul to what you are working on. 🙃

[@Sam-bn3dy]

John 3:16 ; For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

[@celisewillis]

it's the same for the English word, it's the same Latin root, "anima" 😂

[@turtle1658]

animation in english also means to give life into something

[@shoocharu]

Thank you for this video, Aaron! Thing is too, even if AI could make my animation process infinitely faster and easier, I wouldn't want that! Doing it by hand, sculpting it and molding it, that is what creating art is all about. The journey you and it go on from start to finish is something I would never trade for anything else. When the old masters sculpted insane details into marble, a lot of people went "but surely there are easier ways to make statues than this??", sure but it's not about what's the easy way or not. It sounds cliché, but it really isn't about the destination - seeing the finished piece as fast as you can - it's about the journey you go on when you make it, and the new person you become once you're done. Another cliché point to be made is this; In the day and age of instant entertainment and instant recognition, there is an emphasis on getting products, content and art out faster and faster. AI is a perfect tool for this, because you see the finished piece in an instant. But then what? At that point it becomes so impersonal, in my opinion. And if that is what you like, then sure thing. But to suggest that it could ever overtake unique art created by a specific person with their own history, life experiences, opinions, desires, thoughts and ideas, is absolutely laughable! Long story short, I agree with what Aaron said haha

[@becominghero9754]

Hey! You're one of the few animators I recognize by name--your work is so dang creative. It makes me so happy to read how okay you are with all this. And you make me wonder if it comes down to unique selling points. Someone like you who's got a clearly definable, recognizable style can't really be replaced by a machine; we want Shoocharu, we want YOU. I wonder if maybe what artists need in order to feel confident--in the face of AI--is to really sit down and develop their own SELF. When your name and style becomes a selling point--I'll watch an animated short because I know YOU made it--then you're always going to be safe. If Michelangelo came back and made a sculpture--even though 3d printing can do the same thing--we'd all still buy his sculpture, after all.

[@celisewillis]

It's not cliche at all! It's sincerity, and your thoughts are worth sharing 🙂

[@berealwithraya]

My daughter is an animator and personally, I work in the tech industry and yes I like everyone else, I develop and work AI/ML models. I do know what's coming down the track and I can see that there will be a division within the audiences. You will have for a while those who prefer the AI generated works (or don't care or worse...can't tell lol) and then you'll also have emotive individuals who are invested in the human spirit, artwork and craft and that is the part that no matter how much mimicry goes on in an AI model, it will never have the breath of life that we have. Human beings, we are unique; we are creative; we are special; we will always have a purpose and a desire to express ourselves and connect with others.

[@alabasterindigo]

I have been in a horrible headspace with AI looming overhead and was almost convinced learning art was a waste of my time to now. What has saved has been great voices like yourself, Bakshi, my art friends, and others reminding me WHY we do these things. Thank you Mr. Blaise, we need more positive persons such as yourself inspiring others, it's relieved an incredible burden from my shoulders and brought my head up high again

[@JavaScripting64]

The fact that you're animating the movement of the underwater fur _by hand_ is insane! It look so good

[@TerraStory225MYA]

Sage advice as always. Putting something beautiful back into the world isn’t just for artists, it’s great advice for all.

[@MarcHendry]

all the AI talk in the past month or so was driving me nuts, but basically I agree, that's exactly what I like about art as well. And also in music, sampling has been around for decades but hasn't stopped anyone from playing physical instruments, which I think is comparable

[@ithurtsbecauseitstrue]

music sampling is not the same as ai writing music

[@MarcHendry]

@@ithurtsbecauseitstrue sure yeah, and there is ai music now too, although I don't think anyone is really a supportive fan of it, it's more like stock music. But I mean it's comparable as an easier but often less expressive technique. (There are also expressive ways to do sampling of course, but in my opinion it's a minority of cases)

[@ithurtsbecauseitstrue]

@@MarcHendry ai music will improve. Ai music didnt use stolen artists work. Since it limited its dataset to what they could legally ingest, it may have a smaller range. Visual arts do not have the same licensing and litigious framework as the music industry. Which is why they behaved themselves in one arena, and prison raped the other. Everyone keeps talking like the tools today are the concern. No. Ai art right now has limitations and a level of sameness. Chat GPT hit walls pretty quit on what it could really offer. But i havent tried the new version. Everyone sees what the very very very near future is. And ai music wont be stock forever. Animation, illustration, photography, writing. it will all evolve very quickly. And the voices in support of ai, will give it all of the foothold it needs.

[@arsonist7013]

​@@ithurtsbecauseitstrue One thing about this whole situation that dose make me really angry is that the music AI has been a lot more respective to musicians than the visual art side has been to artists, only using public domain sources or material that was offered while AI art is all fair game to them. It shows a predatory nature to me, the music industry is very protective, and has very sharp legal claws, visual art is a more venerable industry and they knew that, so AI is moving in on that as fast as it can, before any legal regulations can be put in place. I will accept technology development, I will accept change in the art world, but I won't accept a future built on the blood of artists, who where never consulted, or compensated for there work being used in this way.

[@theSato]

@@ithurtsbecauseitstrue He didn't say "it's the same" but its a very valid comparison. Just like saying "AI vs Current Digital Hand Drawn Art" is the new "Digital Art vs Traditional art". People think it "lacks soul" or "is cheating" and blahblah. But AI-assisted workflows that take care of some things for you, or iterate faster/more cheaply, is the future - and society as a whole will accept it as the norm (as they should)within our lifetime. There will still be a place for hand-drawn digital art or animation though, just like there's still a place for traditional art forms like paintings, sculptures, drawn-on-paper art and so on.

[@asayasartworks]

Every new update I get of snow bear makes me so happy and I feel so connected to him everytime you explain him! Thank you for always inspiring us Aaron.

[@SolomonJagwe]

"Make the Art you wanna make"... I receive that, and I take it wholeheartedly Aaron, thank you!!!! Well said brother :)

[@wa7pP986]

Thank you for your thoughts on this hot topic. I think this all boils down to "What do people value?". We have seen, as you mentioned, so many areas of art and craft be "threatened" by technology, but as time goes by we see that these crafts do not go away because people (actual living breathing humans; which, at the end of the day are the ones that determine what is valuable and what is not), decide that they WANT to possess the crafted thing, not the machine created, or AI generated thing. My nephew-in-law is a ceramics artist. He makes beautiful, unique coffee mugs. There are machines that can create 100 coffee mugs in 30 minutes. You go to Target and buy them for $7 dollars a piece. But my nephew can still put food on the table because people want something made by a human. They will still pay $45 dollars for an object that does the exact same thing as the $10 dollar machine created mugs -- hold coffee. They buy his mugs, because they value the process of making it that involved a human, not a machine. I hope artist continue to explore the "art" of communicating the value of their craft. We NEED artist to build a vocabulary around this topic that helps us understand why something has value and something else does not. Thanks again. I saw you at LIGHTBOX by the way and really enjoyed your polar bear running demo.

[@AaronBlaiseArt]

Yeah that’s a thought we have discussed too. Like you can automate everything but to what end? At some point if it puts everyone out of work then no one can afford to buy the things you are automating and the pendulum would have to swing back the other way because if you can’t sell it then it doesn’t matter how cheaply you can make it. Just because IKEA exists doesn’t mean everyone only wants IKEA furniture

[@glitchydood1558]

This... Actually made me very happy to see. Thank you, random commenter.

[@joannot6706]

@@AaronBlaiseArt AI will put everyone out of a job because it can potentially do it better and faster. But those jobs such as builders, plant farmers, accountant and even animator only exist to provide a product/service to other humans. Robots aren't going to grow tons of food for jobless humans that can't afford any. This is going to make Universal basic income necessary, because once automation starts to really replace jobs, and people that are still employed know it's just a matter of a couple years until they get replaced too, how hard will it be for the vast majority of people to pass laws to tax AI and robot production in order to fund basic income?

[@pepinopepino7]

​@@joannot6706 I get what you say. The only thing I can do is suggest you to read the first two comments again, as they've answered your question in a really logical, universal way that I think will help you feel easy!

[@joannot6706]

@@pepinopepino7 I don't think you get what I said because the question mark is rhetorical, meaning that one isn't supposed to answer it, it's a question with an obvious answer the purpose of which is to make a point.

[@XC999_Akainu]

While I’m actively trying my best to learn 3D animation. I have special admiration to 2D animators who could bring life to a character with drawing. The amount of time and effort these people invest in 2D art form always impress me. That’s why I find this channel so inspiring. (even though I don’t do much 2D myself. )

[@celisewillis]

That is very sweet! There is much 2D, 3D and stopmo artists can learn from each other 😊

[@primus0348]

I'm a 3D animator, and i want to see Hope that animators can survive, but I'm also losing some cause of AI, I'm really unsure about the future and AI is a massively Gambling on the Future of it, possibly we may not come out on top unless something is done. but ill keep creating until we artists lose

[@tinylol]

The people promoting AI are just as soulless as the AI itself. Meanwhile artists are full of life. You're awesome, keep up the amazing work! Mad respect for what you do, it's magical. The last part you said about putting beauty back into the world really touched me.

[@Lord_Juvens]

What a sad and ignorant way to look at it.

[@MrToxx525]

Some people have everything you stated but can't draw or make art, and notsure what a soul is as I've never seen one. Ai is a tool that will allow everyone to express themselves!

[@Lah240]

Very true. I have seen my classmates in design college, who haven't watched a single animation movie are now working as UX designer in big companies and liking the Ai artworks which is inspired by disney, Studio Ghibili. They are showcasing what Ai can do.

[@Lah240]

​@@MrToxx525everyone can make art. What they can't make is what they perceive as good art, the ideal art. Ask a kid if they can make art and they will tell you how good they are at making art. Average People never wanted to express through art. They just wanted to copy what Disney, Miyazaki, Leonardo Da Vinci, Van Gogh has done. And Ai is good at this. That's why people post artworks made by Ai in Van Gogh style.

[@Argon369]

@@Lah240 You will get tired talking to these clowns, once the weak gets power theres no coming back, they think they creating ART but what exactly they are doing is a compilation of good art from great artists

[@drterrynguyen4057]

From your teaching to your animation over the years I can feel your intention in every brush stroke. There is a warmth to your art that AI cannot and will not ever be replaced. Thank you for your effort.

[@harrylime306]

We really need to stop deluding ourselves into thinking that AI cannot inspire sensations such as "warmth" with its works. It can and it does, since it STEALS from real humans, real artists. That's why we need to keep fighting it. This video is tone deaf and completely misses the mark.

[@rebecca_rh]

@@harrylime306nah

[@foxygrin]

@@harrylime306 no u

[@vannomanno1]

Wow I can't wait to see this short!

[@JD-np5xq]

I've really missed 2D animation. Thank you.

[@twoczents]

Hey. There is this cool thing called Anime. Highly recommend it 👌

[@muffintop8787]

Excellent points! The key is intentionality, which is why (as far as I'm aware) ChatGPT doesn't stop people from wanting to speak. The difference is well understood. But for many, that connection just hasn't been made with AI art vs human art yet. But the connection will be made. I predict that if people attempt to commercialize AI animation and put it on the big screen, people will have an unshakable feeling that it is "zombie-like", as it simply will not size up to the hours of craftsmanship that goes into just 2-second shots of human animation. Also, things like frame interpolation have been a thing for years, but it has been used no more than as a 'party trick'. Animators stuck with hand-made frames because it is *human*, and audiences can tell.

[@btn237]

I don’t agree that human generated images have some sort of ‘essence’ that is mystical or incapable of being distilled by an AI model. To me this idea is essentially pseudoscience and that even today, AI is able to generate some beautiful and moving imagery. The entire thing about AI art technology (what a lot of people are up in arms about in fact) is that it’s being educated about the entire history of human artworks. All of the emotion and spirit that we put into the images is there within the training set. Furthermore - the output of AI tools is also being curated by human beings, who are picking the images that resonate with them, and potentially making revisions until the image speaks to them. I feel that if people are looking at AI output and seeing some massive distinction between it and human artworks, it is that upset people are afraid and in denial and potentially seeing things that aren’t actually there. Out of curiosity I experimented a bit with AI myself to create some mood boards for a project, and the result was frankly astounding to me - certainly my clients absolutely loved the imagery. Aside from the obvious tells that are symptomatic of some current models (weird teeth, too many fingers sometimes etc)- it’s on the whole capturing all of the beauty and emotion I was after. I really wouldn’t count on people knowing when or if AI has been used - so long as skilled artists are involved in some capacity, if anything this will increase the average standard of artworks across different mediums (just like when photography allowed people to do more kinds of painting than before). As an example of some of the output of AI that I was blown away by for my own project, see the following image: cdn.midjourney.com/6e3d6a7f-ce0b-4bb4-adf0-7054535ec9ac/grid_0.png I swear to the lord above - the machine saw into my soul. I probably couldn’t have been happier with the image it is spooky how well it captured the sort of authentic vibe I was after. Here is the prompt I used by the way, where you can see I’m trying to guide it in a particular direction (after some not so great attempts): “Stone age female child who is looking off camera and laughing hysterically as if she's in a natural conversation. Her appearance is muscular with traditional authentic animal skin attire and tribal markings on her face. Isolated against a dark background. Dramatic sunset lighting.”

[@btn237]

In order to avoid a potential flame war I wanted to add that I agree completely with the message of the video “if you want to keep making art your way, then do it”. I also am confident that artists are over worrying about the potential of their jobs being in jeopardy. As is demonstrated in the video, current technology allows a skilled artist to work incredibly fast and also be very specific, I feel that artists will predominantly be the ones using AI tools to help them, should they wish to do so. My own prediction for AI technology is that it will raise the standard for lower budgets/smaller teams who wouldn’t have been in a position to pay a dedicated concept artist or animator etc.

[@AAjax]

It will stop people from getting paid to write, and is already competing with some mundane writing jobs. (blog articles, articles for seo boosting, etc) Large language models will only get better and better from here on out. Will people still write? Sure. Will publishers opt for free-but-pedestrian stories over giving someone a book deal? Yep.

[@ishouldbedoingmyhomeworkno535]

Funny thing is that I did use ChatGPT to help with writing the report and I have to say it act more of a assistant than just writing all your stuff. I still need to do the research, find way to input all that into ChatGPT and still need to check whether what it's write fit my standards and do the necessary adjustment. It's super in making sure my apa reference is correct, writing is good as well grammar and all that stuff. Although I did try to use Mid jounary to help come some idea for a swiss style poster for a art lesson. All it give me was a poster with swiss words at it. So that I have to say that A.i is never gonna replace anyone but act as more of an assistant who will help cut in some of the more stressful processes.

[@StepDub]

I work with data. I’m told that AI will take my job. However, what most people don’t understand is that 80% of my work is learning the business and how the people in it interact and what their information needs are and how best to present it. The technical skills are important, but it is people skills that count.

[@reaganjanaerichard5009]

I really want to be a 2D animator. It's a dream of mine. I've always loved cartoons growing up. I was so sad when I thought I might not ever see a 2d animated film again. It broke my heart, honestly. But I have hope now, thanks to you! Thank you. ❤️ I'm going to make the art I want to see and never let 2D animation die.

[@AwesomeHyperSonic547]

I feel the same way, there’s a certain magic about seeing a drawing come to life right in front of your eyes, I will never get tired of it.

[@celisewillis]

You can do it!

[@1805movie]

This is honestly very encouraging to hear.

[@Geritopia]

It’s the people who run and finance the production who need convincing. I doubt AI will take over traditional animation entirely but the assist processes will undoubtably come first. I love your work. It’s so inspirational.

[@margueritelouisearmont7409]

I wanted to write to you and say a most profound thank you to you. I am an animator, and I have been stuck in a deep, deep funk for a long while now. That didn't stop me from creating and putting my demo reel on my KZbin page as well as a short animatic I have for a short film that I want to do. But, I have been wondering why I should keep on creating if nobody cares about hand drawn animation anymore. Your video revived my passion and gave me a new motivation to create new short films. Again, thank you so very much. 😊😊😊

[@tyson7417]

I agree that AI won’t ever be able to truly replace the heart that artist bring to their field. My fear is that the ease of AI will create enough “junk food” art (made fast and cheap, yet still look solid) that audiences will forget or under appreciate what artist bring to the table. I do think 3D has done that for 2D movies. I teach middle schoolers who look down their nose at the hand drawn movies of even the 2000’s. I show them the lion king from the 90’s, they roll their eyes because there’s a newer, better one… but by the end those same eyes are wiping tears. As an animation fan and working freelance animator, this kills me. 3D is totally it’s own art form with hard work poured in and plenty of technical overlap… but I fear many people see 2d as dated or “cheap”. Completely under appreciating exactly what is displayed here in this video. I love a animation as an art form, my fear is AI will change it over to a more easily consumed product. Not the end of the world stuff. But it makes me sad. Not really arguing against what I said here, but I think the bigger issue for me is not replacement of artist, but the forgetting of artists.

[@NorthgateLP]

I honestly see it completly different and much more uplifting. Because everyone can easily use it and it's so accessible, people are much more interested in it. People make custom models and filters and upload it for others to use. Literally everyone can start doing it and because they don't have to practice for months and years before they get their first decent result, they stay a lot more motivated and want to learn more. True there will be a lot of low effort stuff that gets put out, but it's basically the same when decent photo cameras were added to smartphones and everyone could make a selfy or a photo of anything and share that. And I also think it can bring a comeback for 2D. Because artists can focus much more time on the most important aspect of their creation (briniging life and emotions in) and for the things that don't matter as much, use AI to help make it look good and coherent. The reason why 2D faded away is because the amount of work you'd have to put in to get a similiar quality as 3D was just not feasable. Maybe AI can help make it feasable. There are already so many tools out there and I can't wait what experts in the field will be able to achieve with them. It could also open up much higher quality indie films instead of endless AAA superhero movies.

[@untizio7125]

It's the first time that I heard someone that prefer 3d so much over 2d animation, usually is the other way around.

[@becominghero9754]

@@NorthgateLP This--AI could be really helpful for creative tweening or reposing, for example, while you draw out your main keyframes in your style.

[@becominghero9754]

In a world of very short people, the average-heighted man is a giant. In a world of mass-produced AI art, the person who can make something that's even just kind of unique will be a superstar. I think maybe people whose sole selling point is they "can draw" or "can animate" will be replaced. But people who have neat ideas or their own style will always shine. Is that silly to think?

[@tyson7417]

@@becominghero9754 This would be powerful and open up the field a lot. Small studios, or even just individuals could tackle a lot bigger projects. So that would be cool to see what stories people want to tell. However I still sadly feel like the actual ART of animation, the timing, posing and spacing is kind of the part where the magic happens. Being able to draw, or pose a 3d model is one thing, but bringing it to life in a creative and unique way. Like Tartakovsky did in Hotel Transylvania, actually going in and undoing the computer generated tweens and removing the artificial motion blur in order to get that precise timing and readability needed. The smear frames are apart of the art of animation. I think this is why the seven old men are still talked about to this day. Each one was basically an actor with certain timing and posing tricks that made their animation unique, even inside a Disney movie. I see the upside of using AI as a tool, but I still think it hurts the art form overall. Just my opinion, The tech is awesome and I can't believe we live in a time where this is even able to be talked about.

[@Jaxzyn]

The thing is, AI's current goal is to bypass copyright more so than generate new art or animation or anything else at this time. The quality of knockoffs just isn't as good as the established works, but I think they will be stealing anything artists make and add enough AI alterations/fx to it to claim it. AI will constantly be looking to steal any popular innovator's works to stay relevant. That is a big deterrent for new artists to publish online or to innovate.

[@foxygrin]

I'm just glad there are actual court hearings going on right now

[@JimBrave-ri1oc]

It's EXTREMELY against the law to use a device to take images from something that is copy righted or someone or their likeness. It's against the First Amendment and the Privacy Act.

[@EyeMCreative]

Corridor needs to get you on their Animators React show to talk about this more. This is awesome

[@Volt_-]

Thank you Aaron! Your videos are so entertaining to watch, and gives me hope for the future! As a young animator/artist, it really helps me to hear/learn from a professional!

[@Awesomemay]

your videos mean so much to animators and aspiring animators, such great advice!!

[@morrisonyeukwu8926]

What is blud doin here 💀

[@olwynnsay237]

I totally agree about the human touches and attention to detail. I had been really disheartened by all this AI stuff but as an author/illustrator of picture books no amount of prompts could ever produce exactly what is in my mind. It's the little touches and details that create the atmosphere and dynamics of pictures and stories.

[@litost6564]

This is a beautiful message Aaron thank you. I'll admit a lot of the AI stuff has had me disheartened, but this made me feel better. I love your work and am happy to see you doing what you enjoy. 😊

[@Salamanders4life]

the most important problem with AI right now is the exploitative scraping of artists with no consent or compensation. Until this has been regulated AI will always remain just unethical and basically theft

[@ithurtsbecauseitstrue]

they scrape through non-profits and then use the dataset gained that way to train their for-profit software. Its an unethical shell game. And the concept of ai alone is an abomination. "I strongly feel that this (ai) is an insult to life itself.” - Hayao Miyazaki "People will come to love their oppression, to adore technologies that undo their capacities to think" - Aldous Huxley

[@mazajp3507]

THIS! Please, I'm so tired of arguing with people who cannot understand this simple statement. The problem is not AI itself it's how unethical the humans behind it are

[@ThePortuguesePlayer]

My mentality has always been that from the moment you put something in the internet, you lose your rights to it. No matter what the law is, you can't stop literally anyone from going to your links and take your stuff to do literally anything with it without you even being aware. That has always been my approach to it, so I can't really approach this any other way than a "wtf were you expecting?" stance... I'm pretty sure my own art fed some AI, but from the moment I chose to put it online, I already accepted that possibility and many other worse ones. If you don't want your work stolen, don't put it under free access online. Pick and choose what work you are willing to get stolen and find an alternative for the rest like some self hosted server (that is not free access) or a physical shop. You can also encrypt your files... There's a million possibilities to go around the problem in exchange for only a slight inconvenience. Get creative. You are artists, creativity and problem solving is your whole thing, but just "screaming at the cloud" is definitely not gonna do it.

[@ithurtsbecauseitstrue]

@@mazajp3507 every person pushing it wallows in anger and hatred for art and artists. They are openly smirking, mocking and show a lot of disrespect. They are obviously covetous of talent they do not have. And developing a skill requires to much of them. They want the instant gratification of an ai enema. “democratizing talent” plenty of ai people love the arts so much they openly say NO PROTECTIONS OR COPYRIGHTS AT ALL SHOULD EXIST. Aaron didnt serve his art, audience or industry well by approving of Corridors insulting scatological animation farce. "I strongly feel that this (ai) is an insult to life itself.” - Hayao Miyazaki Miyazaki is right. And that insult in life in consistent with the disrespect and devaluing of ai supporters and the unethical practices of the ai developers. They are dehumanizing BY NATURE. “adopt it or get left behind” sounds like scare tactics sales propaganda. Dont believe it. No - running fast on bionic crutches is just you being dependent on a more powerful globalist corporations. They want you dependent. Thats what they mean when they tell you not to “fall behind.” "People will come to love their oppression, to adore technologies that undo their capacities to think" - Aldous Huxley

[@ithurtsbecauseitstrue]

@@Becqueral good god. This trite bs still!!! No, artists getting inspiration is NOT in ANY way the same and ingesting infinite amounts of data for replication, reuse and reference as a machine does. Is going to see a movie the same as pointing a camcorder at the screen? no. Its not. And the camcorder merely records it. There is not dataset like ai. Often getting around copyright via a non profit, the used in a billion dollar for profit product. Its not the same thing at all. And to suggest so is either stupid, or massively disingenuous. requiring the human touch is TODAY. Ai aint gonna stop advancing. Each prompt you make is further training the tool. See. Its not a tool for you. You are its tool. To better train it with your own use until it definitely wont need your pesky human touch any more. ai has left forward MORE AND FASTER THAN THE DEVELOPERS HAVE EXPECTED. it is imminent. It is not a maybe. Its the future. The very very very immediate future.

[@BobbyDukeArts]

Very well said

[@Blueskies2513]

your animation is beautiful, it reminds me so much of the classic era of disney, there is so much expression in your characters, you are right that AI could never replace human art, your art has emotion and AI only has mathematic

[@Glory2Snowstar]

Thank you so much for this. Something that AI will never take away from us is creativity: a deliberate, clever mashup of concepts that can’t simply occur through random generation. There’s a special feeling knowing that what you’re watching had legitimate thought placed into every little scene that a network of code will never fully capture.

[@Woef718]

It can already do that. Watch 2 minute papers about dalle-2

[@Orozus]

Thank you for this Aaron. I've been spinning over and over in fear and frustration. Your words help a lot.

[@tobiodeyemi5274]

Truly inspiring. One thing AI can't replicate is what humans do best, putting the love and emotion into their art. I've been taking your animation courses since September and they've honestly been a godsend. Keep inspiring and teaching many artists like you have me.

[@norbis3939]

Of course AI will be able to put love and emotion into art. People aren't magic, there's nothing we can do that AI won't be able to do.

[@cesar4729]

It's a complicated subject, but not an inscrutable one. Emotion and love are purely subjective elements, you cannot measure or force it. Each one feels it in their own way. Unfortunately, as uncomfortable as it is to think about, AI can replicate everything we do, and this includes those elements that made us feel emotion and love. The AI ​​is not going to offer us its emotion and love, the AI ​​is going to offer us our emotion and love. It will be done artificially, as is its intelligence, but the end result to us will be as real as any. This is something you cannot change, because the very subjective nature of human perception leads our feellings to become attached to even inanimate things, like Tom Hanks with his Wilson ball, let alone an AI that can create incredible things and communicate naturally with us.

[@greatveemon2]

Corporation have no feelinsg that's why they keep displacing the workers. And without power and money, you have no way to promote yourself as indie. AI will go on a level where no human could beat it like that chess AI that even the greatest chess player couldn't beat.

[@EnigmaScience]

@Norbis hooray, we're worthless, thanks, science! ^__^

[@norbis3939]

@Диванный Инженер We're not worthless, we just have to learn to stop being slaves. There are two basic types of things that make life valuable - things of intrinsic value, and things that are valuable because they provide some kind of service to something else. In the future, we'll be able to provide little to no meaningful services to society at large, but we will still have the potential for intrinsic value if we live lives that are meaningful on their own merits.

[@Mark-fc7tu]

I liked your visualization of how helpful art tools are.

[@MontChevalier]

Thank you for your words. AI art made things pretty depressing for me. Cause I love art and you're a big inspiration for me. So hearing you say that is at least reassuring. I still face trepidation regarding AI, but at least looking at your work, people can tell that human art will always have a soul. And not a copy of what a soul is. Thank you.

[@HalikBun]

This is something I'm happy to hear, something I need to hear, but I don't think the question is whether it "takes" my animation job, but whether I have to spend less and less time on it. As someone that decided to keep my drawing and animation as a hobby because I disliked doing art for money and wanted to simply draw what I enjoyed; I now regret that decision. The reality is that I'm gone for work 11 hours a day (includes travel time and such) doing a job I dislike, only to be exhausted when I get home. Do I still get to draw? Yeah, but it's not enough, at all. Doing the work you love will continue to keep the practice around, but that is different from putting food on the table. I don't want to sacrifice the process of creation for a livable wage, but people have to balance the realities of living with their desire to draw. AI will reduce the opportunities people have to make a living off of that hand-drawn creation process, because production and industry work is a portion of where livable wages in art come from, and AI image generation is the epitome of industrializing visual art. I'm planning to quit my job come the end of July. I've saved up a couple years worth of funds as a runway to allow me to work on an art career unburdened by another job. Now if I don't come out of these few years of work with a livable wage, you have to wonder how many jobs will be around that require me putting a pen to paper and actually be able to live off of it; this is the real crux of the issue. Will I continue to do hand-drawn work? Well that's a givin, I couldn't stop myself even if I wanted to, but can I make a living out of doing that? Feels less likely the more this tech improves. I can only hope all of this automation will allow me to simply live off of some kind of UBI after a few years if there aren't a lot of jobs for this kind of work, but infrastructure would have to be in place and the US would be one of the last countries to implement a UBI anyways. lol Plus, as someone that currently works in construction, physical automation is a long ways off due to autonomous robots being a huge accident and injury liability if put into place to work alongside human workers. The robot literally wouldn't know if you are in pain during a situation while working alongside you, and that is a massive, massive problem. Having to ability to break your arm or severely injury you without realizing it is something that would need to be solved first and foremost.

[@michelelentini]

As a 25 yo 2d animator, this is so inspiring.. I'm literally moved ❤️ I feel so grateful to have legends like yourself to remind us of what a moving line can do. I'll do everything I can to not let it die

[@samanzaira5635]

I want to become an animator but it seems risky more than ever now that SORA is here and how uncertain it all feels but to animate, i would actually feel happy

[@celisewillis]

SORA is junk, and isn't at production quality. There is no commercial use of it because it looks like garbage. And if soulless companies aren't jumping to it to save a buck, there's not much to worry about

[@odduckOasis]

I was one of those people 20+ years ago that was so sad about 2D animation disappearing in the large studios. I had grown up always wanting to be an animator, but at the time, I wasn't interested in 3D animation in the sense of being a part of it. So I didn't pursue it- but I still love character designing and animation... and I wish I had just gone after it back then. I remember studying the animation of the Beast in my HS class 'multi-media' at the time, and the scene of "Go ahead and STARVE!" and just the timing and movement and everything that went into animating it and it just fascinated me, yet I didn't go out of my way to learn more since- save for a tiny bit about 10 years ago- but I have been dabbling again recently... If I get the $$, I def wana sign up for your courses! Thank you for sharing your insight, just sad I didn't hear it 20 years ago lol.

[@Fabrice_Debarge]

Hi Aaron, Maybe you remember me? I gave you the license to the software you use to animate your film, David T Nethery even came to see you to show you the basics shortly after. It was in 2015 if I remember correctly, the same year my first little boy was born. Now almost 8 years later so much has happened! I was forced to leave the company ( but I'm still working in the 2d animation software field : I did and would probably do it all my life I think ). But what makes me really really happy is to see your progress, the way you master animation, coloring and shadows ... and also I love to show your WiP to my son who is now almost 8 years old and also a great fan of polar bears 😊 ! Thank you Aaron for all you do for 2D animation/animators and wildlife ! I'll email you again sometime to get in touch.

[@sirlean-beautysubliminals-5515]

what software does he use to animate?

[@HowlYaDoin1999]

You have a huge passion for traditional animation that I am excited to see your upcoming film Snow Bear along with the Lackadaisy cartoon. You've inspired me to draw animals back when I was in my last years of high school, and I still have them at home, hanging on the walls.

[@DetectiveLobotomy]

that's exactly my thoughts on AI, i use 3d modeling for my animations, and many times I'll have to re-render what a character says because I didn't feel anything. Same with AI voice I use it as a place holder it lacks emotion.

[@Michael9635]

Thank you Aaron for sharing your perspective

[@AmberwingArt]

I'm SO excited to see Snow Bear finished! It's such a heartbreakingly beautiful story!

[@Managable_Mayhem]

The difference between old style 2D and modern '2D' is already noticable enough and made it noticable how less special the animations feel. It'll take a LOOONG time for any AI to even come close to what humans can create. If it ever can at all.

[@sangremexicana0996]

Thank you for sharing your thoghts Aaron. Me as an student and a professional want to belive that your vision of a world where the human touch is always appreciate is true, but as we talk thousand of jobs are been replace with IA here in México is happening not only in the art world but in the journalist world, radio, tv etc. As Gabriel Spangler said: we have to mention that the issue with AI/ML models is the exploitation of artists and their work. People are having their artwork taken and used to develop this technology without consent, accreditation, or compensation. Until that exploitation is addressed this will only be the new way to take advantage of creative people to make a quick profit.

[@lc3]

Thanks for the pep talk! I think you are right. And you are an amazing animator.

[@calpic9748]

The issue is that many casual viewers and especially executives don't understand or care. Companies have shown that they will happily put out low quality content as long as they can make a quick & easy buck out of it (see: the Disney remakes, Marvel CGI, Flash animation replacing hand drawn). And this is the perfect opportunity to do exactly that for cheap. The first to be affected will likely be new artists, as "lower skill" / "lower value" jobs are automated, effectively taking away their opportunities to break into the industry. And as the technology becomes increasingly sophisticated, it will only get worse. The loss of the thought, vision, and passion that only a person could provide is exactly what is at stake.

[@celisewillis]

I agree execs are greedy goblins but ...Idk, casual viewers are already complaining about the lack of quality media due to execs pushing out half-finished garbage. The writers strike (WGA, DGA, SEIC) saw ENORMOUS public support, a complete 180 from the last strike. The public is generally exhausted with garbage content, which is why do many turn to platforms like KZbin and Nebula for indie-produced media.

[@celisewillis]

And I disagree that asset-based animation (what you called Flash) is inherently low-effort. Many gorgeous shows have been created this way (Wakfu, Tangled series, anything Studio Mercury does)

[@devernepersonal3636]

@@celisewillis if you take the kids show Arthur for example....the dip in quality is obvious when they switch to flash. the show itself is fine in its writing and what it is saying, but it is much more flat and lifeless compared to when it used true animation.

[@devernepersonal3636]

you are right, at big companies anyway. i think they will go to indie companies or start their own companies. the greatest movies will come from youtubers. youtubers a long time ago started making stuff far better than what disney has been making long ago. That will only become more true.

[@Geckomayhem]

The practical way that you show this is just so powerful. Embracing technology for the better; not just words, but actions!

[@RNorthex]

So this'll be long, but the length is necessitated due to how complex the subject is. Although art of any kind created by people will never go away due to even just the sole desire of wanting to create or share those experiences with other people and for that reason, professional sports aren't going away either: people want to watch real people play and their hard work at display, I'd like to try to contest the approach that creative jobs wouldn't go away [at least for the most part]. I feel that the perception of conveying emotion as exclusively a human experience - although enticing - is a romanticized perspective. I really do understand the desire to feel that there's a certain spice, life, or - if you will - soul to creating art that will always be preferable to artificially created works but there's a couple things I feel is worth of note. First thing to keep in mind is how quickly darkrooms for photography went the way of the dodo. The process of developing a film has all but gone from being a viable profession, although it remains a hobby. Similarly many of the traditional ways of doing artwork has as well. We're using increasingly more digital tools as time goes on, because in order to remain competitive in such an aggressive market and to maintain a sustainable job, you have to keep up with the times and indeed this video alone stands as proof for a lot of that. I understand the idea that the majority of the 'creative process' still thoroughly remains, but just like how AI has garnered the ability to read incredibly human-like compared to 5 years ago and will only improve here on out, that also means it'll be able to understand sooner or later how our creative processes work, almost certainly even better than we do. It's difficult to see that in its infancy, but humans aren't spiritual beings; they are biological machines, that very fact is how we understand medicine today or even mental health, so just because something feels inexplicably human, doesn't mean it can't be understood: we have a way of understanding how perspective methods create depth on a 2d layer, how smear effects make us think of fast movement, or how a precise and subtle twitch of expression on a face can make us feel. All of that can be understood, experienced, taught, shared by us and so can we to an AI. I think that in reality, art isn't magic, but a craft. And ultimately it all comes down to the fact that by large, most people looking for a company logo, a wedding illustration, or to even watch a feature length film, they are looking to have the finished product and likely aren't incentivized to spend money just so it would be made by a human. The reason why I feel all this is important to mention is because I feel a lot of my fellow artists are looking for ways to feel secure about their prospects moving forward and of course I certainly would like that too. When we're scared, we seek security. But in chasing that, years could be wasted mastering a craft that will have significantly decreased demand as time goes on, putting the future security of many artists at risk at which point, it might be too late to realize that we shouldn't have made ourselves feels so comfortable about our future. I'll continue to make art as I love to do so and be thrilled about the ride AI will take us on, but I hope I can maybe offer some reasonable caution to those who think there will be little impact.

[@CrimsonKnight_Gaming]

The Ai apocalypse will come, who cares man, we're going to die either way, so better people spend their time on what they enjoy now. The earth will probably crumble to the greedy human faster then AI could take over anyways.

[@sunla]

Your comment should rank the highest here. I respect Aaron Blaise, but there are a few things wrong with this. 1. He's dismissing very valid concerns, and arguing that there's no reason to worry, because there's value in your hard work because he *feels* that it should (without really explaining why) 2. He has a monetary incentive to keep people believing there will be no impact on the creative fields (he makes a lot of money on his online courses) 3. He will not be impacted in the same way younger generations will. He is quickly nearing retirement age, and he basically got through the door and had time to strut before it started to shut. 4. He seems to be unaware of what the tools actually are designed to do. I don't think he realizes the goal is to remove the artist entirely for these big companies. And I don't think he's exactly aware of the rapid progression. I think this would've been my take a few months back, and I genuinely think he's lagging that far behind. He's busy, that makes sense. Now I'm not saying he's a bad guy or doesn't deserve his success. He's fantastic and someone to look up to. But this video is just... inadvertently insulting, for lack of a better phrase. The concerns are extremely valid, and just sweeping them under the rug, talking about cool animation tips and tools, and throwing in a little shameless website plug is kind of an insult.

[@becominghero9754]

On photo development: while darkrooms may be gone, there are now MANY more people who are able to make a living as photographers than even ten years ago. Technology has made MORE jobs available for photographers by making it more accessible to ordinary people--not less. HOW is different. But there are more jobs.

[@VideoGameAnimationStudy]

Hard agree. Hand crafted animation will always exist, and _have_ to exist.

[@NikDavis]

I love this message very much. I'm glad we have a good video explaining why AI art isn't going away from someone who has years of foundation and insight into the human aspect of animation. Awesome video, great reminder that AI won't be replacing animation anytime soon.

[@jajantanimaciones]

Its great that we have an animator and maestro like you still working and inspiring

[@gabrielspangler6964]

This is a beautiful message and I'm very grateful that you put this kind of inspiration into the world. The thought of being replaced is scary but I believe an artist will be able to use a tool like this to it's full potential. But I still have to mention that the issue with AI/ML models is the exploitation of artists and their work. People are having their artwork taken and used to develop this technology without consent, accreditation, or compensation. Until that exploitation is addressed this will only be the new way to take advantage of creative people to make a quick profit.

[@sangremexicana0996]

amen

[@sangremexicana0996]

other point that people dont get it is, that we can and should stop the develop of tech if it has some risk for the human kind as we did with the cloning issue... the same is here with tech that will only generate a redundant art base on the scraped of basically all the art of the world live or death...

[@oleg3819]

I totally understand your point of view as I am an artist myself. I don't like what's happening with the art industry. It seems that art loses its value at some point, flooding the Internet with AI generated images. But I think that even if these AI models weren't trained on 1000... artists' works, we would be in the same situation, but just a bit later. This has been inevitable ever since the development of this generative AI technology.

[@gabrielspangler6964]

@@oleg3819 I'm really not worried about the effects of AI generated images in the long run, nor am I encouraging the stopping of AI development. But saying it was going to happen anyway is a terrible way to justify exploitation. It happens because artists have to defend the right to their work at every turn. Stop ripping off artists, that's all

[@GiacobbeWillka]

Thank Aaron! This is actually helpful for those worrying about them being replaced. I've tried AI art using Bluewillow, and it's cool to be able to generate images, but it does not have the capability of capturing a certain emotion and the organic feel of any art.

[@kavindugunasena318]

10 months into the future and things are changing faster than everyone thought.

[@Meepalasheep]

not really, every single one of his points still stand. automating the process misses the whole point. it's not enough to have "content."

[@abreathingcoffin8089]

I’m not trying to be rude but did you actually watch this video or did you click on it and write a comment?

[@celisewillis]

Yeah, big investors are dropping out, because this "AI" crap was just another investment business scam, ala cryptocurrency and NFTs

[@primus0348]

@@celisewillis Sources? also i dont think AI is going to be like NFT's or Crypto, this is different

[@jamescandyland]

Awesomely beautiful animation Aaron! I love the classic frame by frame animations

[@jonahmaddox9341]

Unless Ai feels emotions, it will never work out

[@aaronarce1498]

Thank you Aaron, I really needed this today

[@Cc75757]

I love this perspective. Spot on man!!

[@seokermom]

This was so cool, thanks for all your videos. I’ve just recently gotten into animation (at almost 30 lol) and I really, really love it

[@celisewillis]

I've met some people who get into it in retirement!

[@tdanim8]

Preach it, Brother Aaron! Well said.

[@shahabserwaty8685]

Thank you for this video! In my opinion, the reason a piece of art ends up being beautiful, and most of the time no one really knows why, is that the process of the creation of that artwork leaves some room for controlled mistakes and imperfections (or happy accidents). So the more help and ease one might get from the tools that are used, the smaller the room for those beautiful imperfections. Since the artist him/herself is not even aware of those little mistakes that happen, therefore they cannot be faked or post-injected into the artwork. It is merely the natural process of a human's work. Our subconscious mind recognizes that quality right away, and we feel it in our bodies as rich emotions. Even though our conscious mind cannot explain why hand-drawn 2d animation looks and feels better than CG animation despite looking less fancy and unrealistic. I believe AI takes away most of the natural process an artwork needs, to be authentic and rich. Especially when it does things perfectly and when people assume it understands human emotions. But as you well know, emotions are indicators of our weaknesses and insecurities, and most of the time they are not even realized, so they appear in what we do without our permission. How can an algorithm emulate all the things we are without the experience of being human? Although in a world where making profits faster is more valuable than humanity, I won't be surprised if artists were replaced by machines. But still, we have to do our grocery shopping and laundry ourselves. Our priorities are upside down.

[@thcarneiro]

Great point. It is also cool to see that, now that technology is improving, some "2D-trends" are showing up! Spiderverse, Arcane, the Mitchells vs the Machines... mixing 2D with 3D, with new techniques, is a new trend. In some way, this is praising the hand-drawn art and the HUMAN creative process. Also, there are pure 2D studios poping up all over the place. Since it is cheaper to animate on a computer than painting cells (1980's fashion, I mean), more people can learn. For instance, I first got interested in learning BLENDER (3D software) when it realeased the Grease Pencil tool - a tool for making 2D animation! Art made witlh the Grease Pencil is taking over youtube, by the hands of hundreds of enthusiastic artists!

[@priyankaenterprises2773]

pls make a video abt sora ai i would love to know your opinion on it

[@greatveemon2]

maybe train his work with it and show it results. There is so much optimism in the video. Or I guess he doesn't know how AI works and really think it just a 'tool'.

[@celisewillis]

SORA is garbage, which is why it's not being used anywhere commercially. The genAI hype was an investment bubble that has popped, now that investors have seen they were sold a lie. Don't worry about it.

[@devernepersonal3636]

@@greatveemon2 i agree, wwwaaaay tooo optimistic about what is actually going to happen.

[@user-kr2yj4dm3l]

@@celisewillis so many still keep buying the sales pitch though

[@garypenz743]

Absolutely amazing! Impressive. Nice work Aaron!

[@kyletwebster]

Well said and demonstrated, Aaron. The human experience is everything.

[@JBaptisteMonge]

This is a nice talk about process but completely irrelevant since in his last interview Aaron rather praised AI. We can't talk about the love of the process and take the defense of AI then that the AI is crushing all these creative process and still Aaron tell nothing about the poor ethics of the dataset who are used for training all these programms.

[@kyletwebster]

@@JBaptisteMonge Good point, JB. I don’t think Aaron is on the side of anyone other than artists - we are all trying to express how we feel about this threatening technology and it’s hard to cover all the important points in a single video. I believe artists stand with artists, even if their public responses don’t cover every base.

[@a_23656]

Thank you for your encouraging words. I am much in love with animation and open to classical handmade 2D and 3D likewise. Its a matter of styles not of old vs. new. Technology is there to help you , not to stop you. As for AI my feelings are mixed, because the abuse is already in place (like disrespecting the copyright of artists, stealing on a massive scale), but when it helps you to support your workflow, i am for it. New technologies bring responsibilities. I hope we can master this time now, because now we are flooded with mass of AI content (which will leed to exhaustion).

[@sub-jec-tiv]

Yep. People freaking out about AI is a complete waste of energy. But people are addicted to being angry now. Also.. your work is gorgeous.

[@Pedrosa2541]

This kind is so full of joy and fun, loved it.

[@PaintHandDan]

100% FACT - MAKE THE ART YOU WANT TO MAKE.❤

[@33teo33]

aaron your a lifesaver and an opener of eyes towards the truth

[@MrPipos1234]

I agree! AI is a tool not a replacement. As long as we undesrtand that the process won't lose its human aspects. Thats art and design.

[@SaintMatthieuSimard]

2:57 The joyous dance that bear do is so amazing to watch! I could watch it in a loop for tens of minutes if not more!

[@lampshade6579]

2 minutes in and I already can't agree more. I believe that art is truly just an advanced expression. Like how a person can make a face to show another they are happy. A person can make a painting to show whatever they feel like, to whoever they feel like. So if someone said to you, "Bro are seriously crying right now? You know they already made a robot that can feel 100x sadder than you already. So why would you even bother being sad in the first place?" You'd probably think they're nuts. And I believe everyone should feel that same way about AI art, or AI stories being a thing. I think it's the fact that our current society has turned art into a tool for profit and status, that people believe art is something that needs to be atomically optimized in the first place. If anything I hope AI is used an aggressive amount by studios who only want to make stuff for cheap cash grabs. That way more people can see art for what it truly is, an expression.

[@AaronBlaiseArt]

Not only is art a high form of human expression, it's arguably out OLDEST form of expression and is absolutely the oldest surviving means of expression . It certainly predates the written word. Cave people telling stories around a fire may be older but those stories are lost and it's their art that survives. To your point, A.I. used as a tool in service of human expression can be a good thing. A.I. used as a cash grab for the sake of cranking out "content" on the cheap will feel hollow and not endure just like any other form of bad content (including 2d & 3D animation)

[@alejandroescudero1379]

2 minutes in and I can already give a refutal to everything Aaron said, he is describing the director's/writter's jobs that distinctively need to be human in order to create beautiful stories, and nobody disagrees with that, is the other 1000 artists that will be replaced to draw the story that will be gone. Not every artist does art just for the sake of expression, in fact those are very privileged and lucky artists imho, most of us do art for a living in big production companies, and big production companies will save as much money as they can.. come on this isn't even rocket science.

[@becominghero9754]

@@alejandroescudero1379 If you're really not doing art for expression, and just doing it for money, then why choose art as a job in the first place? Why not investment banking or even construction contracting? You literally end up sounding like an AI yourself, and it kind of seems like those are the kinds of jobs that are going to be replaced--cash jobs. What AI can't replace is YOU and your creativity--the actual depths of you, not the you that's out there just for money. The you that has a unique style you want to create or a special version and image of a story in your head that's so clear nothing else can really come close. I don't want to be a jerk, but the fact is most consumers know the big production companies are ALREADY producing soulless trash. Everyone's getting tired of them. Of course they're going to go dystopian. That's what they do. But there are so many crowdfunding and small creative company opportunities popping up everywhere these days. Young animators on YT are getting jobs where ten years ago they would have had to work for decades to get any attention or creative control. While AI is advancing, so is opportunity. Maybe the big studios are finally going to start dying in the next twenty years as society gets truly fed up.

[@alejandroescudero1379]

@@becominghero9754 Well this only shows how ignorant people is about art and capitalism in general. I don't do art JUST for expression, as I'm not priviledged enough to do that, I need to earn a living, and what do you think I prefer to be doing, art for a company or placing bricks all day? I do art for a living because I'm an artist, I NEED to do art all day, every day, I'm not a hobbist, I don't have other interests nor I want to do other things, why? because I'm an artist.... You take that away and replace it with trully soulless AI and well... if you are already fed up with human art and think is soulless, just brace yourself for the truly artistic crap that is coming in waves, by literally anyone with fingers. Just FYI, AI or not, true genius and worth while pieces of art and entertainment will come from those talented in the arts, there's no way around it, little Timmy with an idea is not going to create anything good even with all the AI tools at his disposal. The problem is AI is potentially eliminating thousands of artists that help in the creation.

[@Zac_Frost]

I totally agree with you. Every piece of A.I. animation and art I've seen just looks so... lifeless and hollow. Sure A.I. tools could make the job easier and faster, but you'll always need that human touch and input to really bring life to the piece. Thanks for the video. 🙂

[@plutonis6562]

God bless you, Aaron. I understand the concern over AI, but I also agree that it's important to see it as a tool that can be used by artists to make the process easier and, honestly, more fun. True creativity will never die. Artists will always be around to see their creations through. I'm certainly not going to let anything stop me from making the things I want to make. Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. Snow Bear is looking great, by the way. I'm so excited to see the finished result!

[@lovemetalmike]

2d didnt go away at aaron blaises house, and hes helping me learn how the greatest 2d films of all time were made. ty

[@DuskEalain]

This is something I've been trying to express for a fair while now. Yes, the AI stuff is scary at first until you dissect the _why_ of creation. Nobody creates just to make a pretty picture, as I've stated on your channel before if that was the case cameras would've put artists out of business decades ago. It's an extension of something far more primal within humans and that's the love of sharing stories with one another. Whilst mechanical skills are obviously important, what really sells is the creative touch, the stories, the characters, and the worlds you share through your creations. And we've reached an apex of sharing where I could make something and next thing I know it's an international sensation because our scope of communication has expanded beyond cities, beyond nations, and in some ways beyond languages. My mind goes into game development, back when I was a wee lad myself if you wanted to make a game you needed specialized tool that cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars to hook into your computer, and then once you had a game made you needed to hope you could get the attention of a studio or publisher to actually get it out into the markets. Now all you need is a computer, the know-how to make it work, and the creative passion and work ethic to see the job to completion. And many teams as small as 3 people, some even just a singular hard-working person, have created games that are internationally adored in their respective markets. Yes, the technology means in theory more people can just hobble together stuff to try and make a quick buck, but the playing field has grown some a simple swimming pool to an entire ocean of possibilities. The AI won't stop you, only your fears.

[@MahiMahi-yu5jo]

This! Thank you for putting it out there

[@leethememerwolf]

Well this is a great help for artists! Its really cool seeing the color selection and shading is very useful.

[@droppedcombofiend2707]

I completely agree that it takes a human to create something good. But big companies don't care about that. They care about what makes them the most money. If they can automate the process, at any point, you can bet they're going to. They're already trying to use AI to write scripts, they're definitely going to be using AI for the animation as soon as they can. I'm sure that the higher level animators are always going to be there to clean up and adjust things, but things like storyboards, background character design, and environmental art are definitely going to be the first things to be automated. Why pay a storyboard artist when anyone in production can just type in a prompt and get what they want in a fraction of the time? Especially when someone like the director, who may not be an artist, can do it themselves. It's just a storyboard, it doesn't need to be super detailed, and is just there to get the idea across anyway. Why pay someone to do background character design when you can feed an AI the art style of the movie and let it spit out dozens of possible designs that can be randomly picked from? Why pay someone to do environmental art when it's not going to be as detailed anyway and takes a lot of time to do when you can just put a prompt into an AI and get it immediately? The problem is that these are low level positions that are needed for people to get experience and grow within the industry, and they're first on the chopping block. So yeah, veterans will probably be fine, but the industry as a whole will shrink even more than it has. But that's all primarily talking about movies. When it comes to TV, things need to be as cheap as possible in order to make any money. They are 100% going to be cutting as many people as possible in order to put out a product people keep watching. In terms of animation, there will probably just be a few actual artists cleaning things up to be presentable enough. And there's no way they're going to be paying an artist for storyboards on a live action show. There's just no reason to when it's so simple you can just roll it into another person's job. Like just let the cinematographer or director describe the shots they want, many will like it better that way. AI may not be coming for your job, but it's coming for others for sure.

[@ThreadstoTwelve]

This video is awesome and I love that you mentioned how CG isnt the same as hand drawn. Your word choice is inspiring and thank you.

[@larsbijl3300]

I mean, I understand where you're coming from as an individual animator, but i think it's also important to have a conversation about the impact of AI art on the art industry as a whole, and not on a specific personal basis. I've already seen lots of job postings from people asking specifically for people with access to AI, not for animators. It will ultimately still significantly lower the amount of job opportunities, projects, and also money that will be invested in animation. As we've seen, there's already been a Netflix short that has backgrounds solely made with AI, even in the rough state that it is for now. Not everyone works on Disney or Pixar level projects, and a lot of people make their money by doing commission work or smaller scale commercial jobs, those are at a real risk

[@viktorleon7915]

First time I agree with someone's opinion on this matter, thank you for sharing it and showing your great work!

[@DonVigaDeFierro]

Thank you for this, mister. I have formation in both art and informatics, and this technology makes me hopeful for the future, if only as a way for independent artists with little resources to realize their vision without limitations, and for that, AI cannot replace humans. I have tried to use AI to make something from zero, but it's extremely limited. Some things cannot be portrayed with enough words. If anything, it speeds up things, but for that, one needs to know _what_ to speed up: Maybe a quick background, or choosing a color palette, planning a composition... I've found AI is great to find very specific references for things that don't quite yet exist, and I don't doubt the technology will get better, but so far, it needs _patience._ I've also heard many saying that "AI will not need humans in the future", but that's a falsehood. A few years back, AI could generate images without needing any human input. Engineering an AI that takes human input is significantly more difficult than an AI like "This person does not exist" that generates images without regards for the human element. The next logical step is not commanding an AI with simple words, but with sketches and drafts. Why? Because it's harder, and computer scientists want to solve harder problems. I want a world in which artists can fulfill their vision, and if AI makes it easier, then it's a great tool, but if it doesn't, then it's worthless, because who would use it, then? Who has any interest in this technology if it's not artists and creative people? If I could, I would make something _for_ artists, because I understand this horrendous want to create. I walked away from art, but it keeps getting me back. I cannot stop drawing or painting. Even if I am not good, I want to create, with AI or without it, with resources or without them, even if I gain nothing from it. At one point I thought I didn't love making art, but I realized that's not true, because I kept coming back even when I was sad, frustrated and sick, and nothing in the world could take that desire away.

[@SpookyBoogie3315]

When he says "Even in this scribble pass..." and it's still better than anything I've ever animated. Makes me think... Maybe he won't get replaced... But What aBout mE?!?!?!

[@ruima9195]

Do you still hold the same opinion after Sora was released by OpenAI? Top creative animators/storytellers will be safe, but the market is unfortunately driven to cost-effective production and a lot of animators probably will have a hard time. The industry might reshuffle and people need to shift gear to learn the new technology as early and as quick as possible and combine with their artistic skills in order not to be laid behind.

[@alanlawrence2954]

Aaron, talking sense and working hard to create original art... that rocks.

[@Phantom-kz9bv]

Hey Aaron I think you make some good points, but I think what you and a lot of people forget is that AI could be used by big companies in not so nice of ways to put it mildly. And because every single copyright and intellectual property law favors big companies like Disney, warner, brothers, and DreamWorks. It will continue to get worse for smaller companies and individuals. I just want to see the laws not just help big companies but also individuals and smaller companies as well. This would require an intellectual property and how it enters the public domain to be changed. If it was reduced and actually help individual developers in smaller companies.

[@itheuserfirst3186]

This has been said about basically every transformative technology that has come along. Watching people cope about it is slightly humorous.

[@gabudaichamuda2545]

@@itheuserfirst3186 The fact you don't get it is pretty sad. These machines produce in seconds, what people produce in hours. You also woefully underestimate the greed of these companies, because they are *already stealing from small illustrators and companies en masse.* Literally BILLIONS of images stolen by LAION and funneled into Stability's lucrative product. Indiscriminate data laundering. The end users and companies have committed mass art theft, as well as identity theft, targeting artists with hate. You'd do well to actually be informed of what's going on before you open your mouth.

[@pendlera2959]

@@itheuserfirst3186 This is the first transformative tech intended to replace human brains instead of merely making labor easier and more efficient. You're acting like it's an upgraded tool, when really it's a synthetic person that has not yet reached maturity.

[@foxygrin]

@@itheuserfirst3186 Yes, how dare people have feelings about the things they love? You're much better, you never have to cope and amuse the people who are far, far above having feelings!

[@itheuserfirst3186]

You're just another person who is going to live and die. Stop being dramatic about the importance of your feelings.@@foxygrin

[@milenatos]

Like it's not enough how the Silicone Valley guys are gaslighting us that this new AI prompt to image technology is a "tool" and not a replacement...Then you have artists that young people look upto selling the same shit, and THAT'S what is really really sad...Art directors telling how this AI is awesome because it has made a process easier and faster, yey, you don't need a team of juniors to paint backgrounds anymore- and with the complete amnesia that they themselves started as juniors painting backgrounds before they put their asses into art directors chairs. While in reality, the whole team of 9 juniors in a company where my friend's daughter was working got fired in last 3 months. And no, NO new positions are open. Kids are giving up from art and design studies and I personally know several ultra talented kids that now see their future as something else- struggling to find what that "else" might be because there are less and less jobs where you need to use any creativity or education...Well, they can still become janitors and work in factories assembling robots I guess...

[@Roboto-chan_1402]

Thank you Aaron. I enjoyed this demonstration very much along with your take on the role that AI will play/ is playing in arts (or in your specific case, animation). I am slowly coming round to the idea of how AI can be utilised by artists (although the legal issues around AI generated pieces obviously need to be sorted out to protect artists' works). As a tool to streamline workflows and bring about new creative processes and next level outputs the possibilities for artists are truly infinite. What I initially didn't like about AI generated art was a phenomenon that has been emerging in society, which is "instant gratification" (a fancy word for impatience I guess 😅) along with the quick monetisation of those outputs. I am merely a beginner in drawing/painting but my understanding is that it's about the process, the journey, what you learn and how you progress and improve rather than the end product. Now that more and more artists try and find ways of making AI tools work for them, I can definitely see great potential. Agreed, art will always need the unique human ir rather sentient element to bring a piece to life. And we will always need experienced artists/ the expertise to bring about great art that tells a meaningful story, evokes an emotional response and as such 'has a soul'. Creativity is an intrinsic part of what it means to be sentient. For good measure, however, I will continue to look at the development of AI in the art world with a sense of caution. How it's being used and how it impacts artists and society as a whole matters.

[@ookami5329]

The anime industry's international success is proof that people still want 2d animation

[@sarahbrownell25]

Love this! Can’t stop the person behind it all!

[@btn237]

This is a truly fabulous message to put out there. I hope more artists adopt this outlook over panic and negativity. Almost every technological revolution in art has been met with hostility and proclamations of the apocalypse by many artists, and yet I can’t think of any where it’s like “yeah… let’s go back to a world without photography” or “I wish colour movies didn’t exist”. Each new means of making art only adds to the possibilities, it never completely erases the old ways of doing things, even when “the new way” is infinitely more advanced than the old (photography versus painting was a pretty monumental upheaval of the status quo that had existed for centuries). History seems to show that once something becomes automated or mechanised, the ‘traditional’ way of doing it only becomes more revered and takes on an almost mythical status (how were pyramids built without machines), or sees a resurgence in popularity (vinyl record sales for example).

[@TheBoris178]

I like the introduction when tthe paper start flipping following that light bulb highlight flowing with the flashing giving your shadow a magical motion it gift the character you deserve it bring me classic memories

[@sociallyresponsiblexenomor7608]

A lot of these videos always end up being optimistic and not taking into account all that AI can already do, and will do in the near future. Interesting to see Aaron's take on this.

[@Hayreddin]

Exactly, it reminds me of the time when people used to think an AI could never win a game of Go because it required "human intuition", now that's way in the past, no human has or will ever beat AlphaGo Zero, and now we've got GPT-4 manipulating a human in order to have them solve a captcha for it. No one will stop humans from creating art, that's a given, but in terms of industry at large the game is already lost.

[@foxygrin]

@@Hayreddin but then what's the point anymore? If you're only watching movies and reading books made by machines, is that what you want? I don't understand that people don't see this as a bleak future, or just shrug their shoulders because 'that's the way it is'... artistic industries were already shit, now they're going to be even more shit, and people really want to just give up and praise the 'innovation'?

[@Hayreddin]

​@@foxygrin I'm simply saying that trying to stop AI or believing that it's just another tool is very naive, it's a (massive) paradigm shift and it is advancing in strides, what was thought to be impossible or very far to come yesterday, today is already possible and I'm realist (some would say cinic) enough to think that most companies have no reason to hire 100 artists when one art director with Stable Diffusion - or whatever other AI product will exist in 5 years - can produce work of comparable quality, the only reason it isn't already happening en masse is that there is a stigma attached to AI and many companies are deciding to publicly state they're not going to use it, but that will go away when it's so commonplace people won't care anymore. I'm saying this as someone who is going to be directly negatively impacted, I don't like where things are headed but denying reality isn't going to change things, AI is going to change our world whether we like it or not and it won't just be about art but it will impact pretty much every aspect of our life, even disregarding all potential issues with misalignment, Moloch and the lot, even in its most benign and successful incarnation AI will change the world and replace humans at many tasks, saying that it won't because "human element" is just wishful thinking.