Are you relying on artificial intelligence, or are you enhancing your intelligence?

In recent years, the two-letter acronym "AI" (Artificial Intelligence) has undoubtedly become the most frequently heard buzzword. The consecutive emergence of AI systems such as ChatGPT, Seedance, Midjourney, and Stable Diffusion has indeed brought unprecedented impact to many artists, writers, and various other industries! Some scholars even state that many job types will face an unemployment crisis. In the city of Hong Kong, the term AI has further evolved into a bizarre trend, with both political and business circles rushing into a frenzy to claim how they will utilize AI... The situation in local education is even more alarming. Universities, tertiary institutions, and non-profit organizations alike use AI learning to recruit students, believing that providing education on the latest technology is essential to help students keep pace with the times! It is not difficult to see that the new bachelor's or master's degree programs launched by various universities this year use either NFT (Non-Fungible Token), Metaverse, or AI as their selling points. Some programs even charge a staggering tuition fee of over HKD 400,000 per student annually! Yet, under this prevailing trend, there is still no shortage of students enrolling, especially mainland students who come to Hong Kong aiming to relocate and develop their careers overseas. I will not comment on whether these educational methods are reasonable, but will simply offer some analysis on the application of AI based on my past professional experience. The application of AI in the film and animation industries actually has a fairly long history. As early as 2000, the Lord of the Rings film trilogy utilized Massive, an AI crowd-processing system, to create scenes with thousands of soldiers. At that time, I also had the opportunity to use this expensive AI software in Hong Kong for film visual effects production. We only needed to teach the AI to learn different data profiles (what actions the AI should perform, what it should observe, and how it should react). AI can indeed help humans simplify and handle many processes that used to be repetitive and time-consuming, while also making the results more precise and error-free. However, there is an unresolved problem: what it produces is merely a result analyzed from data. Although the imagery is beautiful, it lacks the vitality created through an artist's experience, research, and refinement! One cannot feel the presence of a soul. I do not deny that Artificial Intelligence truly brings convenience to human work. Yet, it is precisely because of this convenience that humans and creators are gradually stepping into another crisis.

Some people say that as long as you learn to use AI tools to generate videos, scripts, and design drawings for visual effects, gaming, or animation, anyone can do the work of an animator or designer, and professional training is no longer needed. If you truly agree with this view, I believe you are not suited to work in this industry, and it will be difficult for you to survive in it long-term.

If you are an educational institution administrator or an educator, and you also agree with the statement above, I truly cannot fathom whether this city will see any soulful creations in the future. Will the students we train become mere command-prompt laborers, or vibrant, living artistic creators? I remember watching an NHK documentary about Hayao Miyazaki a few years ago. In his studio, he watched a group of young 3D animators present some zombie movements created by AI. He became furious upon seeing it, even stating that these grotesque things had no soul. If you truly understand Miyazaki's films, you know clearly that the effort put into every single frame is by no means simple. The unique vitality presented through lines, composition, and character dynamics is something AI can never create. Even if one acquires the data from Miyazaki's films, it can only replicate his artistic style. It can never incorporate his lifelong timeline or the highs and lows of his upbringing to create a masterpiece like The Wind Rises—a work that moves people to tears and cleanses the soul with every viewing. Every frame in those films represents the hard work and lifeblood of the animators, whose characters only come to life with a soul after decades of continuous refinement. This cannot be replaced by technique or technology. Instead, it is the accumulation of skill over months and years, the perception of the surrounding environment, and the interpretation of observations of the world, expressed through the medium of animation. This is art. To add a point, Hayao Miyazaki was among the earliest generation of Japanese creators to utilize 3D technology! He was testing the application of new technology in animation production as early as the 1980s. If you believe that being a successful animator or visual effects artist is that simple, I truly suggest you do not come to study animation. Because I believe you will soon find it unsustainable, or you will quickly give up on your studies. You will also fail to find any joy in the creation of animation! If you are looking for quick results and truly believe that AI can replace the professional skills and knowledge domain of an animator, I believe you will never achieve the boundless drive for knowledge that animators develop by creating different works, nor will you possess the psychological resilience to continuously research and learn across various fields!

If you do not want to be left behind by society and the times, simply learning to apply the latest technology is not enough! Instead, it requires you to have the courage to continue developing your own intelligence, constantly hone your abilities, equip yourself with advanced skills, possess broader and deeper professional knowledge, and elevate your personal qualities. Only then can you truly conquer this overwhelming technological torrent and advance with the times.

Sunny Tang Written on January 29, 2024