Most animation studios have started to use generative AI technology, primarily to develop 3D and 2D assets and art. And the technology’s infiltration could wreak havoc with job opportunities in the industry, The Animation Guild predicts. 

The union assembled a task force of industry professionals to gather and present findings about AI’s impact and the importance of protecting jobs. It released a Critical Crossroads report yesterday, arguing that generative AI programs such as Stable Diffusion and DALL-E could be used to do the work of most TAG members. 

AI could be deployed to perform design, production, animation and scriptwriting tasks, and the tech is only going to become more capable as time passes, further endangering jobs, according to TAG. A good chunk of studios expect to use AI in productivity management (33%), and a quarter of them (25%) say they expect to use it for writing film and TV scripts as well. 

Entry-level positions are the most at risk of elimination or consolidation during this AI adoption period, TAG warns. And the union argues that AI will disproportionately affect underrepresented communities and creatives “from less affluent backgrounds” who are taking these junior positions to start a career and make a living. 

TAG, which has more than 6,000 members, issued this report during ongoing contract negotiations with Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers that have hit a deadlock over AI. The orgs are set to return to the bargaining table on Monday. 

With the majority of animation companies (78%) expecting to adopt generative AI in the next three years, TAG members are very worried about the tech. In a survey from March, TAG found that 61% of its members are “extremely concerned” about it negatively affecting their future job prospects. 

All of its members want provisions that prohibit generative AI’s use in work covered by the union’s collective bargaining agreement, and 87% want to prevent studios from using work from TAG members to train generative AI models. More than half (67%) of members also want protection if they refuse to use the technology. 

Animation workers need to have a voice in the decisions being made about how generative AI is integrated into workflows, TAG says. The union’s priority is to negotiate AI protections for its members that cover job security, IP rights and fair compensation. 

Photo courtesy of Israel Andrade via Unsplash