When AI Art Starts Taking Jobs from Animators

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Every transformation in productivity brings technological advancement and higher efficiency, but it also inevitably leads to workforce shifts. In recent years, artificial intelligence has made rapid progress, including 'image generation technology' based on machine learning and deep learning. The emergence of ChatGPT4 has lowered the barrier to AI drawing to almost zero, allowing ordinary users to generate uniquely styled and imaginative images simply by inputting text. However, the side effect has been significant disruption in industries such as animation design, illustration, and game design.

Many gaming companies have introduced AI art into their workflows to alleviate talent shortages and financial pressures in the industry. Some game teams have eliminated outsourcing teams, while others have laid off half their staff. "Concept artists using AI can improve efficiency by at least 50%. Previously, our company needed 38 concept artists, but we've already cut 20 positions. The company won't keep idle staff!" revealed a technical director from a game art outsourcing company that recently conducted layoffs.

With the unstoppable rise of AI drawing, how are design professionals responding? This issue was discussed by animation industry practitioners at the ongoing China Beijing Animation Week.

Current Situation

Companies Downsizing from Hundreds to Just 30 Employees

"The animation and gaming industry is a labor-intensive creative sector. Cost-saving, efficiency improvement, and productivity enhancement are major concerns for most animation companies. Now, AI has emerged, offering unparalleled advantages in text generation, early-stage art design, and mid-stage detail refinement—areas where human labor simply can't compete," said Zhang Juan, Dean of the Film, Television, and Animation School at Chengdu University, who has been closely monitoring AI's impact on the animation industry.

She explained that compared to mid-to-late production stages, AI technology has the greatest impact on industries focused on 2D creative expression, such as comics, illustrations, picture books, and early-stage game and animation art design. "AI is highly replaceable, especially in presenting concept art sketches and refining details."

"Positions like 2D animation pre-production designers, lead artists in comic and illustration companies, and early-stage concept artists in gaming have all been affected. My colleagues and I have observed varying degrees of hiring reductions, layoffs, and role consolidations in these areas," Zhang noted. During her research, she found that a Sichuan-based outsourcing company involved in projects like Honor of Kings, Sanguosha, and Identity V had reduced its workforce from over 100 employees to fewer than 30 after the rise of AI art. "Not only that, their concept art projects have also shrunk. Currently, animation and gaming companies are hiring AI artists, explicitly requiring candidates to generate finished artwork based on projects, master AI drawing tools, and refine AI-generated images to meet project needs."

Zhang pointed out that AI currently has a significant impact on pre-production animation companies, while 3D companies in mid-production stages face less immediate disruption due to the difficulty of overhauling their production models. "However, this is temporary. AI evolves rapidly, and once bottlenecks like shortened digital model construction cycles and optimized digital asset management are resolved, the impact is only a matter of time."

Impact

Animation Majors Face Challenges

The changes in the animation industry are having a direct impact on the employment of animation students. Zhang Juan analyzes, "Currently, basic applied talents face the highest probability of being replaced by AI. Therefore, for majors teaching conventional and traditional animation techniques, the development and employment prospects are the least optimistic. For skilled professionals familiar with animation production processes—such as illustrators, colorists, and 3D modelers—whose expertise is applied in original content creation for film, comics, and games, some positions are being merged or eliminated in the AI era. These roles are gradually transitioning from specialized to versatile, with heightened demands for professional competence."

To adapt to these changes, universities are adjusting their animation programs. "The difference between ordinary animators and senior animators lies not just in technique but also in creative planning, mastery of animation principles, and deep understanding of animated performance," Zhang Juan explains. "Therefore, beyond technical skills, we must broaden students' professional horizons, enhance their cultural and historical knowledge, refine their academic cultivation, develop their storytelling abilities, and ensure they master audiovisual language for animation and game creation."

Additionally, Zhang Juan emphasizes that animation students must develop aesthetic judgment and discernment when faced with AI-generated content to effectively harness AI in the future.

Reflection

AI Cannot Replace Human Understanding of Characters
Ma Hua, a professor at Beijing Film Academy's Animation School, offers four recommendations:

Familiarize students with AI in both production and design technologies.
Strengthen practical training to deepen students' understanding of animation and AI's role in content creation.
Foster interdisciplinary collaboration, as human teamwork and creative friction remain irreplaceable by AI.
Emphasize integrated theoretical education, including film history, animation history, and art theory, as AI lacks humans' cumulative understanding of creative evolution.

Ma Hua notes that while AI can craft logical stories, it cannot replicate human emotional connection to characters. "The emotional resonance we derive from stories stems from human experiences—something AI cannot replicate through data alone."

Observation

The Animation Revolution Began with Panda "Panpan"

Before the era of AI-generated art, China's animation industry underwent a transformation where manual labor was replaced by computers. Li Zhongqiu, Vice President of the International Animation Association, witnessed this shift firsthand. In 1990, China created its first 3D animation featuring the Asian Games mascot, Panda Panpan, with Li introducing the 3D animation technology. "At that time, China had no foundation in this field—even the term '3D animation' didn't exist; I was the one who translated it," he recalled.

From then on, Li worked alongside Zhang Songlin, the former president of the China Animation Association, to promote the animation industry. He remembers his first visit to the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, where he demonstrated the potential of computer animation. Some senior animators were skeptical. "Teacher Qian Yunda (a kind-hearted mentor) questioned how we could abandon traditional methods—expensive materials like paint and celluloid—in favor of machines. 'You can experiment, but that's about it,' he said."

Zhang Songlin responded insightfully: "Old Qian, let me tell you, unless we never adopt this technology. Imagine if we were frozen and woke up ten years later—do you think we'd still be using paper? If computers are the future, we might as well start experimenting now."

By around 2003, China's animation industry had fully transitioned from hand-drawn to digital animation, later advancing to paperless animation, VR, and motion capture. Now, with the AI art era upon us, the landscape is shifting again. Pessimism or optimism seems inadequate—this era has begun and is irreversible.

On April 21, veteran CG artist Ruan Jia sparked widespread attention by challenging AI. She posted a sketch of her fan art of Malenia from Elden Ring, giving netizens 30 minutes to refine it using AI before comparing the results to her finished work. After the "battle," Ruan remarked, "I'm not resisting technological progress, but I refuse to insult those who have fallen in this wave. If the era demands your life, I'll fight to the end in my profession."