Perceptions of AI in Animation Production: A Comparative Analysis of the Manual and Automated

In this paper, we address the gap in people's perceptions of using artificial intelligence (AI) in animation, mainly focusing on AI-based motion capture. We aimed to understand how individuals perceived animations created by AI, manual, and AI with manual cleanup methods. We presented our participants with short, full-body animation clips created using the three methods. Participants rated the appeal and naturalness of the animations, and we asked them to discern the creation method. Results revealed differences in perceived appeal and naturalness between manually created animations and those generated through AI-involved methods, with manual animations consistently rated higher. However, participants were unable to discern creation methods regardless of animation experience level, demonstrating an accuracy equivalent to random guessing. Moreover, the qualitative analysis highlighted diverse perspectives with negative and positive views on AI use, with the most mentioned theme being the importance of quality regardless of creation method. The overwhelming majority of participants asserted that the degree of automatization would influence their perceived value and effort put into an animation. Still, this group didn't show divergent ratings, nor did it affect their overall agreeableness towards using AI in creative fields. This study contributes valuable insights into the intersection of animation and AI, informing creators about the effect of different creation methods on audience perceptions.