Résumé

This paper critically reflects on a mixed-methods approach to animation using Generative AI (Gen-AI) tools within the project “AI.D - Artificial Intelligence and the Shaping of Democracy”. In dialogue with notions from Bernard Stiegler’s philosophy of technology, as well as ideas related to decolonial thinking such as “data colonialism”, “re-existence” and the Brazilian Antropophagic movement, this paper explores the current context in which animation artists interact with digital technology. Drawing on Stiegler’s notions of technics and individuation, we discuss how the use of Gen-AI in animation reveals both the pharmacological nature of technology - its capacity to be both remedy and poison - and the challenges of maintaining artistic agency in an era of increasing automation and technocentric propaganda. Through the use of free and open-source software such as Blender and Krita, the project also adopted sustainable technological practices, advocating for tools that are freely accessible and support, rather than replace, creative autonomy, allowing for diverse modes of artistic creation. While Gen-AI tools provided satisfactory results in supporting basic narration, simple music composition and transcription, their results in crucial tasks such as scriptwriting and image generation remained largely inadequate for use. For example, essential creative aspects of animation from writing the scripts, to creating character designs, maintaining the consistency of style and character animation required complete human artistic oversight and craftsmanship. The findings contribute to the ongoing discourse on the role of AI in artistic production, where these tools can support human creativity rather than automate it.