Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founder of Quibi and the former CEO of Dreamworks Animation, discussed the effects of artificial intelligence (AI) on the animation industry on Thursday at a Bloomberg New Economy discussion in Singapore.
Within three years, a top-notch animated film would not take 90% of the time and work that it formerly did, according to Katzenberg’s prediction of a dramatic change in the animation industry. “In the good old days, when I made an animated movie, it took 500 artists five years to make a world-class animated movie,” he said, looking back. I don’t think 10% of it will be needed. It won’t take ten percent of that, literally, in three years.”
Emphasizing AI’s wider impact on the media and entertainment development scene, Katzenberg stated that no industry would be more severely affected than this one. He emphasized AI’s position as a new creative instrument, comparing it to a paintbrush or a camera, by drawing comparisons to earlier tools that enhanced creativity.
According to Katzenberg, AI will democratize the creative process and open up storytelling possibilities that were previously unattainable for the majority of artists. He said, “I think, on the one hand, it will be disruptive and commoditize things that are very inaccessible for artists and storytellers today.”
In response to questions on where inspiration comes from in an AI-driven world, Katzenberg argued that creativity would always be essential. He highlighted the importance of a person’s creativity and capacity for knowing prompting, characterizing prompting as a creative resource applicable to a variety of narrative contexts.
