Is Ai a gauge for human morality?

When I started in the world of animation, I was puddling cels. It was a lot of work and very therapeutic but having drying racks for all the cels became an issue which is why many small frontier studios began to migrate to tap and fill. I find it amazing that most folks have no idea that the reason Flash became an animation tool was not by design but by independent animators looking for the next best tool and the Vector brush with Flash gave the little guys an edge with resolution independence.

Animation is a visual form of communication. Sound should help complement the animation, but if you turn off the sound and do not understand the message of the animation, then your animation is weak. Chuck Jones was the father of the blur frame, where 2 or 3 frames of motion are put into one frame playing with squash and stretch. Is that a cheat or is it a magician creating magic for us to watch?

Throughout time, animators have always been looking for that edge. Now we are heading into a world of Ai which takes me back to the early 90’s when I was looked at here in Portland Oregon as a traitor to tradition. Yes, I was ostracized here in the indie animation capital for riding on the front range and pushing the borders of technology with my mighty AMIGA. So, what would I have to say about Ai?… well to me it’s just another tool.

Animation no matter how short is about story, and stories comes from experiences. Animation is made to connect with an audience and quite possibly stir up conversations. For me Ai is all about prompts. Of all the software I use today, Ai is just auto-piloting, which is why it can never take over the job of creativity and inspiration. Ai can only do what it is told; if this… then that!

Well, all the Ai art that I have seen or played with, I must say it’s like photography. You take 200 pictures and 3 are the winners. Ai is much the same. The issue most folks have is that its interface is not with a mouse or tablet, but with descriptive words. This actually means you need to understand the vocabulary of film making whether it’s cameras, lighting, or visual styles. In fact, some of the best results come from actual physical images that are used as prompts along with the words.

What I think is the biggest issue facing Ai is that it forces humans to deal with morality. Most humans do not like change. There are only a few of us that really enjoy bushwhacking the front lines of our industries. Sad to say most folks watch and copy. Ai is just pulling from already existing media, so yes it can copy, but that is a cheat. The difference between Ai used for writing or visual images is negligible. In fact, it really is just a smart printing press. Here is the thing about Ai and writing… while it sounds interesting it really is just mostly spitting out facts that need to have an author’s voice behind them. Can it write in like Rod Serlings words?… yes but it’s not going to capture his personality, that is an arena that Ai will not be able to touch for quite some time.

Ai with art is no different than when the computers innovated ‘tap and fill’ and replaced physical paint puddling of cels. When folks are only part of a process and not the creative, they might feel like their process job could be taken away, and they are right. We have all been aware of automation with car manufacturing; should we really be surprised if they level-up the automation process more?

The burger flipper in the world of animation may be a thing of the past but we will always need creative style and story, which comes from an individual. No matter what Ai makes there is still a person telling it what to do. Actually, to get something usable from Ai takes some time and dedication, but one creative person can now do what used to take teams of folks.

Will Ai take away jobs? I see Ai is forcing folks to have to come to grips with two things. The first is the biggest, morals, and the second is creativity. What are you going to do with Ai and what is your audience engagement desire? This is where the morals really come in to play. Ai can be used for good or bad and now it is in the hands of those few playing with it right now. Ai can be used to manipulate and control, or it can be used to teach and inspire folks to learn more. Ai is a tool and so is a gun. With a gun you can feed a village or you can kill the village; how you use it is up to you. Ai is really just forcing folks to have to deal with morality and creativity in much deeper ways than they would like to.

We can blame Ai all we want and when you do not understand, blame is all you have. I suggest that folks play with it so that they understand more about it. Personally, it’s kind of an interesting combination of film making knowledge and poetry. Yes, the order and exact words make a huge difference in what you get out of it. I do not see Ai taking away the artist but rather needing to be controlled by the artist, not corporations. It is now important for corporate brands to get behind individual artists and not agencies. Ad agencies have hired artists and skim way too much funding off the top of any corporate budget. Now that Ai lets one person do so much, it’s time for corporations to sponsor those daring enough to jump in the pool of commercial art which is really what much of Ai is all about.

In my day the big issue was ‘is Norman Rockwell a painter or an illustrator?’ Why can’t he be both? People are so line oriented, sometimes you just need to break a new trail and Ai is not cheating if you only use it for process. Using Ai to create visuals or story that an individual weaves together to create a final image by using both tech and human involvement is not a cheat. Ai is clearing up the world of absolutes. Ai is not an answer and should never create the final image or essay, that should be up to you and how you put it all together, kind of like a collage. Those who cheat are really those who copy.

Blame Ai all you want but that finger should be pointed right back at you! The answer will always be a creative one and that comes from an individual’s vision regardless of which tools they use. Feed the village or kill the village it’s up to you.