The big story plastered over every tech magazine is Artificial Intelligence. Between DALL-E’s image generation to ChatGPT’s astounding language processing, AI has been the talk of the town in 2023.
And with the rise of AI, there has been a lot of chatter about it potentially replacing human workers and artists in the future. But is it really good enough to do that? Let’s dive in to find out whether AI can truly replace people in the world of animation production, or whether you’ll still be seeing friendly faces creating your videos.
What is AI-Generated Video?
In simple terms, AI-generated video is the result of advanced algorithms creating and manipulating visual content. The AI studies samples of video content, and based on all the data it collects, churns out a video by replicating what it’s seen.
This means that AI can create a video for you without any further processes, skipping past the storyboarding, scriptwriting, and filming stages of video production.
Why The Hype?
With all the buzz around AI, you might be wondering, what’s the big deal? These are the major talking points of note:
Long-term Affordability
While initial setup costs can be high, in the long run, AI can produce videos more affordably, given the right conditions. If you’re able to get a good AI platform running with lots of data for it to pool its knowledge from, skipping past the various stages of production would be a huge cost-saver. Especially when it comes to animation production.
And as AI development continues, the cost of using AI to generate content will likely go down as well. This means that with AI, animation production has the potential to be both the budget-friendly and the best option.
Repetitive Task Automation
AI shines when it comes to repetitive tasks. Need to apply the same effect across multiple frames or edit similar sequences? AI can do it quickly and accurately, freeing up human editors to focus on more complex and creative tasks.
24/7 Availability
AI doesn’t require sleep, weekends off, or vacations. It can work non-stop, generating content all day and night.
This means quicker turnarounds and the ability to produce content whenever it’s needed. And this means content on demand.
Efficiency
With AI, you can achieve a high level of efficiency, especially for simpler, formulaic animation projects. Bypassing the planning and production stages, AI can pump out content at unmatchable speeds from a single prompt. This means that you can have a video within seconds, with none of the fuss.
The Limitations of AI-Generated Video
But just like anything else, AI-generated video is not without its shortcomings:
Inconsistency
Without an actual understanding of what it’s generating, AI can really miss the mark. Between getting incomprehensible results to being unable to get the same generation from the same prompt, working with AI brings a detrimental unpredictability to your animation production.
As it doesn’t truly understand what it’s generating, details like art direction, consistency, proportions or even having the same object stay in its place are often missed out on. It’s an approximation, not an accurate generation.
Data Dependence
Like training a puppy, AI can only be as good as the training (or data) it receives. If you don’t teach it properly or don’t give it enough good stuff to learn from, its understanding will be limited and its capabilities too. This means that you’ll need to feed it lots and lots of data for it to grasp at what you want it to do, which can be extremely costly.
Rough Around The Edges
Some of the more popular AI platforms like Midjourney and Stable Diffusion are still rife with issues that make their results far from usable. Between tricky user interfaces and results that don’t quite match the original prompt, and the thing with hands, current AI systems seem a bit off-track.
Lack of Contextual Understanding
Abstract concepts, humour, emotions—it’s all like a foreign language to AI. It lacks the human ability to understand complex scenarios or subtle humour, which can limit how engaging its videos can be. This lack of understanding can also be reflected in the content it produces, creating a video that falls far from expectations because the AI doesn’t know what it’s making.
Human Intervention
Even though AI can do a lot, it still needs humans to keep an eye on it. You’ll need real people to feed it data, do quality control, and correct any mistakes. So, while AI on its own can run 24/7, its lack of independence means that productivity is still centred around the schedule of its human supervisors.
Potential Plagiarism
Because AI learns from existing content, it might unintentionally recreate something that’s copyrighted, which doesn’t bode well for a business. In fact, certain AI programs have already gotten into legal hot water over copyright problems. This could spell trouble as if you were unlucky enough to have used a platform that does the same, your business might get involved.
Lack of Originality
Despite the misleading name, Artificial Intelligence isn’t actually intelligent. The way that AI works is that it studies a set of data and tries to reproduce what it’s learnt when prompted. This means that it is incapable of forming original and novel concepts, leading to repetitive and generic content.
Search Engine Value
Google has stated that it’s looking for content “written by people, for people”. What that means is that Google, and likely other search engines, are adapting away from SEO-focused content, to find that human touch. As AI use becomes more widespread, and detection becomes more adept, AI-generated videos might become detrimental to your ranking on search engine results.
Why All This Matters
When it comes to making videos, being original and creative is key. Whether it’s a brand video or a TikTok, it’s that unique, human touch that makes a video go from just being scrolled past to being watched, liked, and shared.
Human involvement in videos can bring imagination and creativity that AI just can’t match. People can think outside the box, play around with different styles, and come up with awesome, never-seen-before ideas. AI, by its very nature, will not be capable of stepping outside the norm.
Plus, armed with contextual knowledge, humans are more flexible. They get the little things that AI often misses. Unlike AI, humans can tweak the tone, style, and content to tailor the video perfectly for its target audience. It’s like knowing how to adjust your gaming strategy depending on who you’re playing against.
Also, experienced video makers have a ton of knowledge and skills they bring to the table. They know how to hook viewers in, tell stories that keep people watching, and spark emotions. Need a humorous TikTok? Or a tear-jerking advertisement? They will know just how to bring those emotions out in a video. These are skills that, right now, AI just doesn’t have.
Final Thoughts
While AI-generated video offers some intriguing possibilities, it’s vital to remember the irreplaceable value of human creativity and originality in animation production. Have a think about whether AI is truly the right step for you.
Does the potential for cost-saving outweigh the set-up and maintenance expenses for running AI? Is the on-demand efficiency of AI video truly beneficial when the content still needs human intervention? These are questions that will become even more pertinent as the growth of AI marches on, but also ones that we should think about while grounded in the reality of right now.
Looking for animations created by real artists?
Well, you’re in the right place! Shoot us your animation brief and what you’re aiming for, and we’ll handle everything else. Hit us up at Kasradesign.com/get-a-quote. Let’s make magic together!