Artificial intelligence can quickly generate a large number of painting works, improve creative efficiency, have an impact on the employment of low-level artists, occupy the living space of new designers, and may lead to copyright disputes. However, artificial intelligence cannot replace human creation, as artistic creation needs to reflect unique human values such as personality, emotions, and aesthetics.
The rapid development of artificial intelligence does bring some challenges to animation design majors, but it also opens up new opportunities. Here are a few thoughts:
1. AI may automate some basic and repetitive design tasks, but creative design still requires human ideas and innovation. Animation design majors need to focus on improving their creativity and storytelling skills.
2. AI can help boost designers’ efficiency and productivity. Design majors should learn to collaborate with AI tools to enhance their workflow. Being able to leverage AI will become an important skill.
3. New roles like AI trainer and annotator are emerging in the design industry. Majors can look into adapting their skills and taking advantage of these new opportunities.
4. More interdisciplinary knowledge will be crucial. Majors should look to complement their design skills with coding, psychology, business, and other areas to stay competitive.
5. While some entry-level jobs may be impacted, mid-to-senior-level jobs requiring creative leadership, ideation, and complex problem-solving are harder to automate. Majors should aim to develop higher-level skills.
Overall, I don’t think AI will cause mass unemployment among designers. But design majors do need to continuously upgrade their thinking and skills. Rather than resist change, embracing innovation and equipping themselves with future-ready skills will help secure their career prospects in the age of AI. The animation industry will continue to need human creativity, originality, and empathy.
