Toei Animation studio aims to incorporate AI in future productions

Toei Animation plans to integrate AI in productions for efficiency and quality in coming years.

: Toei Animation is exploring AI integration in their anime productions, focusing on storyboards, coloring, and backgrounds. They have invested in Preferred Networks, a Japanese AI technology company. While AI promises efficiency, it raises concerns about artist livelihoods and potential downsides like unintended errors. The industry looks to Toei's approach as a possible influence on future anime and entertainment productions.

Toei Animation, the studio famous for adaptations of popular manga like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, is setting its sights on integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into its animation production processes. A notable development shared in their 2024-2025 fiscal year briefing highlighted their collaboration with Preferred Networks, a Japanese AI company, with the aim of enhancing production efficiency and quality. The briefing indicated that Toei has made a significant but undisclosed financial investment in this collaboration to explore synergies between AI technologies and animation production.

The studio plans to incorporate AI in various aspects, notably storyboarding, coloring, background creation, and in-between animations. This ambition involves AI automating specific processes such as color correction and generating backgrounds from photo references, potentially streamlining the production pipeline. However, the current scope of AI integration appears to concern future productions exclusively, with no explicit plans to implement it in ongoing projects like One Piece, Digimon BeatBreak, or Gosu.

There is a broader industry discourse around AI's role in creative arts, particularly animation, where efficiency gains are often weighed against concerns about job security and artistic integrity. Critics argue that AI could diminish traditional roles within artistic production, increasing dependence on technology at the expense of creative authenticity. Stakeholders across various creative sectors resonate with these concerns, fearing that AI integration could undermine their roles, reduce control over creative outputs, and potentially introduce operational complexities or errors.

Despite its potential for efficiency and cost-effectiveness within production, AI's incursion into animation prompts a reevaluation of human roles in creative processes. Advocates suggest that AI could minimize menial tasks for artists, allowing them to focus on more complex creative aspects, but this transition must be handled carefully to preserve artistic integrity and job security. As a trailblazer within the anime sector, Toei’s approach will likely have implications for other studios, shaping perceptions on the ethical and practical dimensions of AI in anime and entertainment.

Consequently, Toei Animation’s journey with AI will not be isolated; other studios and fans will watch closely to see how they balance the technological benefits with preserving the human touch that defines much-loved anime series. Integrating AI into anime production could streamline operations and broaden creative possibilities if executed with attention to ethical considerations and artist collaboration.

Sources: Gizmodo, Toei Animation, Preferred Networks, Animation Magazine, Cartoon Brew, Anime Corner

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