By deploying AI-assisted background art in a short anime film, Netflix causes anxiety

A wave of existential dread over prospective job losses brought on by machines has erupted during the past year as a result of generative AI, for the first time since the start of the industrial revolution. When it released the short film Dog and Boy on Tuesday, which uses AI image synthesis to assist create its background artwork, Netflix rekindled that worry. The three-minute animated short, which Ryotaro Makihara directed, chronicles the adventures of a youngster and his robotic dog through happy times before a dramatic turn into the post-apocalyptic. Along the way, it has beautiful backgrounds that appear to be the result of a joint effort between humans and machines; they are credited to "AI (+Human)" in the end credits. Photo Credit: Anime News Network In the tweet announcing the use of the picture synthesis technology, Netflix cited a manpower scarcity in the sector: We used image creation technology for the backdrop visuals of all three-minute video cuts as a test to aid the labor-short anime business! In order to create the visuals, Netflix and the production company WIT Studio enlisted the aid of the Japanese AI company Rinna. They remained mum regarding the specific technology Rinna employed to create the artwork, but it appears to be a Stable Diffusion-powered "img2img" process that can take an image and modify it in response to a written command.

Netflix アニメ・クリエイターズ・ベース×技術開発のrinna株式会社×WIT STUDIOによる共同プロジェクトアニメ『犬と少年』のショートムービー。 人手不足のアニメ業界を補助する実験的な取り組みとして、3分間の映像全カットの背景画に画像生成技術を活用！ pic.twitter.com/GYuWONSqlJ

— Netflix Japan | ネットフリックス (@NetflixJP) January 31, 2023

Right now, you may watch the movie on YouTube for free.

I know a ton of animators seeking for work if you guys are struggling to find them (are you looking very hard? )," one Twitter user wrote in response to a tweet from Netflix announcing the movie. Others cited the renowned Studio Ghibli animator Hayao Miyazaki as claiming that artificial intelligence-powered art "insults existence itself." Netflix stated in a press release that it hoped the new technology will help with upcoming animation films: "Netflix is a company that places a daily emphasis on assisting creators in the production of new works. We anticipate that this project will aid in the achievement of a flexible animation production process through suitable support for creators utilizing cutting-edge technology, as the shortage of human resources in the animation sector is recognized as a problem." Photo Credit: Crast.net Additionally, it appears that Makihara used AI technologies in the production process in an effort to push the frontiers of animation. He was quoted by Netflix as having said, "We can produce something that is exclusively human by fusing tools and hand-drawn methods... I believe that "drawing a human being" is the story's central theme. I believe it will be feasible to preserve and go back to its roots, which will ultimately enhance and increase the potential of Japanese animation." Whether there is a labor shortage or not, using AI to speed up production and reduce costs may enable the development of more animated content than before. But will it make people happy? That is still up in the air.