In the last few years, we have seen many apps and software implementing features that generate images using AI. While some say these features help with creating art or ideas of what they want to create, it actually does more harm than good, especially in the art community.
When it comes to making art, it is never as simple as just sitting down and drawing for a few minutes to create the “perfect” drawing or animation. For many artists, there are different phases of ideation, sketching and refining till you get to a point where you can say it’s finished or good enough to move on to the next frame. However, with AI generation features, all you need to do is type in the prompt box what you want and it will create it for you instantly, and if you do not like the image it has generated for you, you can refresh it and the AI will generate a new one.
Many AI generators are trained using real artists’ work. At first glance, this doesn’t seem so bad, until you realise many artists never consented for their art to be used by the AI trainers. In a 2022 CNN article, it illustrates how artists are not being told that their work is training these Text to Image models.
Before all of these AI image models, all artists had to worry about was making sure their signatures and watermarks were on their art to prevent someone from stealing it. But now, even after these measures, they could be used to train AI because they have a style that is more cartoon-like, fantasy-like or any other descriptor.
An example of this would be the trend where people would take their photos and prompt the AI to put their photo in the art style of Studio Ghibli. When this trend was viral, the internet had various reactions and concerns, causing many to refer to the words of the founder of Studio Ghibli, Hayao Miyazaki said in the documentary “NHK special: Never-Ending Man: Hayao Miyazaki,”.
“I am utterly disgusted. I would never wish to incorporate this technology into my work at all. I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself.” Miyazaki said.
Generative AI also threatens the work and livelihood of animators and artists alike. Like mentioned above, Miyazaki says he will not incorporate AI technology into his work, which is great, however, other animation studios might not agree like him.If you can generate AI images for free or use Adobe Firefly’s text to video feature, why pay thousands of dollars for human animators?
While this may seem like an extreme leap, we do not know when the next “evolution” of AI will happen. As someone who grew up and wanted to be an animator, seeing what AI is currently doing and could potentially do to the art industry is terrifying. People who are just getting started in animation are struggling because studios want to have an easier way of creating art without taking the time and effort required to have animation that reflects life, not just an imitation.
Now, that is not to say that nothing is being done in regards to AI in the Art world. For example, in a Sept. 17, 2024, AP Article, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed legislation aimed at protecting actors and performers from AI creating clones of themselves. Within the state of California, the Animation Guild (Local 839 IATSE) has a task force dedicated to examining the impact of AI on the animation industry.
According to their website animationguild.org , the task force surveyed entertainment studio executives in 2023 and found that 75% of respondents said that GenAI tools or models had supported the elimination or reduction of jobs within their business division.
As we know, AI and the various text to image models are not going anywhere and these problems are not going to be solved overnight. While it might be hard, as all the various software and services we use have now implemented them as friendly and helpful ways to make posters like on Canva, something we can do is be aware of our use of AI, and if we can, limit our use of text to image models.
