I came across some news about a well-known Japanese animation company planning to introduce AI tools into their workflow. This has sparked quite a reaction from both the employees and fans.
The studio believes that using AI could help streamline parts of the animation process and lower production costs. However, there’s a notable pushback from many staff members and supporters of the industry. They are concerned about job security and how it might affect traditional animation styles.
What do others think about this scenario? Do you think that adopting such technology is unavoidable in creative fields? How can we find a balance between innovation and maintaining jobs and artistic values? Have others experienced similar situations when new technologies are introduced at work?
I’ve seen this same resistance in other creative fields - it’s usually fear of the unknown, not the tech itself. Animation’s always evolved: hand-drawn to digital, 2D to 3D. Same worries every time. The difference now is how companies roll it out. Smart ones start small - AI handles in-betweens or backgrounds while artists see it’s helping, not replacing them. Japanese animation has such deep cultural roots that AI can’t touch the storytelling and character work that makes it special. What counts is keeping creative control in artists’ hands while maybe giving them more time for the complex stuff.
I’ve been in a tech-adjacent creative field for years and saw the same tensions when automation hit. The real issue isn’t the tech—it’s how management rolls it out. Once our team realized AI was just handling boring grunt work instead of creative calls, the pushback disappeared. The studio needs to get their artists involved in picking and tweaking these tools, not just forcing them down from corporate. Senior artists usually figure out how to make AI work as a smart assistant while keeping creative control. Studios that nail this transition retrain people to work with the tech instead of axing them. The tricky part? Making sure they don’t lose the unique style that got them where they are.
This reminds me of when we rolled out ML pipelines at my company three years ago. Half the engineers thought they’d get replaced.
Biggest mistake? We didn’t show people what the tech actually did before launching it. Spent months dealing with panic and rumors instead of getting buy-in upfront.
Animation studios need transparency. Show artists exactly what AI handles and what it can’t touch. Most AI sucks at emotional nuance and cultural storytelling anyway.
Run pilot projects where artists can mess around with AI as a productivity tool. Let them see how it kills the boring stuff so they can focus on actual creative decisions.
Studios that make it through this will treat AI like any other pipeline tool. Nobody freaks out about drawing tablets replacing pencils anymore.
Resistance disappears once people realize the tech makes their work more interesting instead of wiping out their jobs.
honestly, japanese studios are being stubborn here but I get it. i’ve worked in vfx and saw the same drama when procedural tools rolled in. fans will notice if their favorite shows lose their soul. maybe start ai on cleanup work or crowd scenes? let key animators keep doing what they do best while ai handles the repetitive stuff.