Hollywood workers represented by IATSE Local 839 — a.k.a. the Animation Guild — are in active negotiations for the future of their industry. Among the issues on the table is artificial intelligence and whether and how it can be used by studios to create the kinds of imagery once only realized by human hands.
In Japan, which rivals the U.S. in animation revenue and output, workers face punishingly long hours, low pay, and a dearth of union representation that could address some of these issues. Recently, Shōji Kawamori, one of the industry’s elder statesmen and the creator of the Macross franchise, told me he’d be “perfectly fine” using AI in some of his own work.
Source: Shoji Kawamori Is ‘Perfectly Fine’ With AI in Some Animation