Animation production nowadays can be really tech-driven.

During the ongoing China International Cartoon and Animation Festival, Bella Wei, general manager and partner of Sparkkey Animation Studio, sat down with CGTN, and discussed the role of artificial intelligence in animation production.

How does AI assist in the production of animations?

"Presently, AI aims to increase efficiency in animation production to free manpower," said Wei, adding that when constructing a city in the animation world, AI will frame an area and put all the elements in it, such as the lawn, street lamps and guide boards.

"It could be very fast because the construction is automatic."

To what extent can AI be involved in future animation productions?

Wei told CGTN that there is an existing direction of the development of AI in animation production.

"For example, in the future, let's say I'm having a conversation with you, and a character is sitting next to us, it could react based on its own character," she said.

A script might even be able to generate an animation because AI has the ability to learn and have more human characteristics, according to the industry expert.

Will AI replace human animators？

"I would say no for now," Wei told CGTN. "Human animators are in charge of generating ideas. Whether it is by getting instructions or learning from videos, AI makes the animators' ideas a reality, at least for now."

Sparkkey Animation Studio is one of the first companies in the field to adopt AI in animation production.

"We embrace new technologies and are willing to learn new things. We were the first to adopt AI and even invested in an AI engine company," said Wei. "But we still can't tell how far AI can develop."

Reporter: Guo Meiping

Videographer: Shen Langlang

Video editor: Zhang Chunnan

Cover image designer: Chen Yuyang

Project manager: Deng Junfang

Producer: Si Nan

Supervisor: Zhang Shilei