Some anime directors think that AI should replace humans because they don’t work properly and are lazy. This interview started spreading like wildfire in the anime community, and fans have mixed opinions on this debate.
The one to bring up this conversation was none other than Tomohisa Taguchi, the director who gained a lot of popularity in recent years for directing The Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna movie, Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War, and Akudama Drive.
All this took place at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival of 2023. Many directors had gathered there for the award ceremony. So, in this article, we will be taking a look at what exactly Tomohisa Taguchi said in his interview when he was asked about AI replacing humans.
Anime Directors Speaking of Replacing Animators with AI
During the festival, a panel was held for the directors who had their movies in the market. One of them was Director Keiichi Hara, who has worked on famous animes like Crayon Shin-chan and also movies such as Summer Days with Coo and Colorful, who was presenting his latest movie, Lonely Castle in the Mirror.
Tomohisa Taguchi, the other director present there, has gained a lot of popularity in recent years for directing The Digimon Adventure Last Evolution Kizuna movie, Bleach Thousand-Year Blood War, and Akudama Drive.
He was featured in his movies The Tunnel To Summer and The Exit Of Goodbyes, which won the Paul Grimault Award at the competition. While both of the directors were on the panel, they both discussed the problems together, which they were facing during the project.
Both of them had similar thoughts about their work experience after they were asked the same question. The question was, “What do you think about the use of AI in animation production?”.
Mr. Taguchi answered that from now on, we will use AI more often in anime production as it will be helpful in the writing process. Even for now, it may not be possible to write the script all by itself. He also mentioned that the Chat GPT program, which has impressed him and gained popularity, is beneficial to the work.
Other Directors Agreeing with Tomohisa Taguchi
Soon, Mr. Hara joined the conversation, saying that he agreed with Taguchi that AI could solve the problem of lazy animators. A time may come when AI will replace humans because they don’t need a break, they don’t get tired, and they don’t sleep.
Mr. Hara also mentioned that the use of AI could also have a positive impact on future generations as there will be some people who are willing to perform better than AI. While his generation is safe from AI taking away their jobs.
During the production of their film, Hara realized that the biggest issue with the younger generation is that many animators in the anime industry are being paid out even if they are not putting in the effort that is expected of them. There are many new talented animators out there, but the problem with them is that they can not maintain the standards.
Why does Tomohisa Taguchi think AI Should Replace Human Animators?
In Japan, there is a problem with the Anime industry. Once animators get hired, they don’t do their jobs properly but still get paid. Some animators get paid when they have not worked for a whole year, and this creates a problem when they are getting paid even if they are not working.
They work on side projects while leaving their main jobs aside and generating double income. This also impacts the layout of key animation stages, which is crucial. If it doesn’t go smoothly, everything will go to waste.
Mr. Hara mentioned these types of people as ‘leeches’ who keep their jobs and switch from one studio to another to keep generating cash. In Japan, there is heavy demand for animators as around 100 feature films and 300 to 400 TV series are created yearly.
