It’s Nice That’s POV series is a column offering insight into the world of art and design. A recent instalment by Liz Gorny entitled ‘POV: AI is at its best when combined with traditional processes’ challenges the idea that AI art is always at odds with human artists.  

Here at Novagram, we have often covered the relationship between AI and the creative industries, a topic that is constantly evolving. Over the last few years, the tension between AI art and traditional art has been impossible to ignore, with some creatives worried that AI could put their jobs at risk, and others hopeful that it will be a useful tool to enhance their work. Gorny’s recent article provides some examples of the latter. She first references the work of Alice Bloomfield, a frame-by-frame animator who has spoken about using AI to support her work. Back in 2023, Bloomfield had delivered a music video for a client. The video was ‘drawn by hand in the traditional frame-by-frame style’. When the project was almost complete, the client requested a higher frame rate. The artist had been using 12 frames a second, but the client now needed 24 frames per second instead.

As an independent animator working not from a large studio but from her bedroom, the idea of locking herself away to effectively double the workload, just to meet the resolution requirements of a large technical screen, seemed fruitless indeed. Interestingly, the solution to achieve the high-fidelity demand came by using another form of technical trickery.

Bloomfield decided to work with an AI company that was able to generate the additional frame needed. She finished the video with some hand-finished touches, delivering the work on time. This example provides some hope for a harmonious future where AI tools can help human artists thrive. Of course, not everyone feels positively about these AI offerings. Gorny reminds us that the use of AI in film has become increasingly widespread over the past couple of years, and many creatives have concerns about this.

In this landscape, the potential negatives of AI are growing. The compulsive use of AI is threatening roles and careers within the film industry, which is a space already defined by mistreatment and unrest. What’s more, in film and visual campaigns, the word AI conjures one specific connotation: slop – otherwise known as, mass-produced, untasteful, lazy – standing in direct opposition to tradition or craft.

However, Gorny feels cautiously hopeful when looking at the way some artists are integrating AI with traditional methods. Another example is director and animator Jeremy Higgins, who combines his hand-drawn, frame-by-frame process with digital animation. Gorny described the work as, ‘both soulful, and AI-driven’. 

A recent project of Higgins’ involved layering 3000 hand-drawn frames on top of a CGI animation. He said:

I try to combine traditional animation with AI in as many ways as I can come up with,” he says. “It started with stop motion of AI images, then I started doing character animations over them because I saw interesting potential to create unique-feeling settings. I’ve played with printing the frames and drawing over them to add textures. Really whatever I can do to add more of the human touch and just generally make something that feels more like me, rather than it feeling like pure AI.

For this artist, it’s all about using AI to ‘push creativity further’, rather than relying on AI for creative output. He warns: