"With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility" - Generative AI In Animation

Following the box-office release of the animation marvel that is Spider-Man: Across the Spider-verse, conversations around the impact of Generative AI on the future of the animation industry have re-ignited, with particular fears over both the infringement of pre-existing works by AI, and whether animators may be left redundant if AI tools allow for the same quality of animation to be produced both quicker and cheaper than by humans. So far, AI-generated art has mainly been confined to surreal mashups on social media (see "Harry Spotter - The Boy Who Lifted"), though advancements in the technology may allow for far more sophisticated works to be generated at the touch of a button in the future. These fears were not helped by Netflix Japan's recent release of a controversial short anime film on their platform that was produced using AI-generated art.