Policy & Ethics

Creatives Have a Fleeting Window to Define AI Before It Defines Them

Credit: Outlever

Key Points

  • With AI's role in the arts still undefined, creatives face a critical choice: shape the technology now or be defined by it later.
  • Frank Govaere, an educator in animation and VFX, argues that the creative community is in a fleeting moment of agency to determine AI's trajectory.
  • He offers the historical parallel of photography liberating artists to experiment with more abstract expressions, suggesting AI could similarly free existing art forms.
  • Govaere ultimately identifies AI's perceived humanity as the "scary part" of the current technological shift, but the bigger risk to creatives is missing the opportunity to define AI's legacy.
Frank Govaere - Animation and visual effects educator | Frank Govaere
We are at a stage where we can still shape how AI is going to work for us. We can decide whether it's going to be our assistant or our master. Once it's shaped, it's over. You can't put the genie back in the bottle.Frank Govaere - Animation and visual effects educator | Frank Govaere

Will AI become an assistant that amplifies human ideas or a master that erodes the human role in creativity? That is the central conflict facing creatives right now across industries like filmmaking and music production. However, it's not as mutually exclusive as it might seem. High-volume production and unblocked creativity can coexist as long as creatives assert control over the tools in their arsenals.

For Frank Govaere, an industry veteran and educator with over 30 years of experience in animation, VFX, and virtual production, this isn't his first technological disruption. The difference, he argued, is AI's rapid onset, which puts the creative community in a fleeting moment of agency with an ever-shortening window to define the technology's role before it defines creatives.

"We are at a stage where we can still shape how AI is going to work for us," Govaere explained. "We can decide whether it's going to be our assistant or our master. Once it's shaped, it's over. You can't put the genie back in the bottle."

The implications, he said, extend beyond job displacement to the very principles of authorship. He warned of the erosion of what he calls "creative sovereignty," the fundamental right of an artist to have full control over their work. In a world of AI-generated content, the lines of ownership blur into a legal and ethical vacuum.

  • The sovereignty vacuum: One of the biggest hurdles for the use of AI in creative pursuits is rights management. Govaere asked, "Who is going to control the rights on a project? Who has the right to decide what's going to happen with the creative work that comes out of it?" New licensing agreements are a step in the right direction, but much of the conversation remains ambiguous, changing from project to project or industry to industry.
  • Perceived humanity: Ultimately, Govaere believed there was one crucial distinction that makes AI a fundamentally different kind of disruption to creative industries. It’s not about processing power or output quality, it’s about its perceived humanity. "It feels like it is human. That's the scary part," he said. "And it's the difference between all the other technology changes that we've seen in the last 150 years."

Part of AI's allure is its ability to produce work that is "good enough" very quickly. This, Govaere argued, is an existential threat to the artistic spirit of pursuing excellence. "Most of the content being produced at the moment wouldn't pass for a first-year student in film school," Govaere said. "You have to be your own hardest critic. And if you have the time and the resources to do it better, you should do it better."

Frank Govaere - Animation and visual effects educator | Frank Govaere
Abstract painting only exists because photography made hyper-realistic painting unnecessary. In fact, it liberated painting. AI could do the same to artforms in the 21st century.Frank Govaere - Animation and visual effects educator | Frank Govaere

However, Govaere is far from anti-AI. He sees clear potential for AI as an amplifying tool, particularly in overcoming common creative hurdles. He described it as a "sparring partner" or an assistant, especially useful when facing the daunting fear of the empty page or the blank canvas. "Often, I ask an AI to come up with some starting ideas or elements that can be integrated into larger projects," Govaere explained. These aren't necessarily the final ideas but they serve to break the ice." To this point, he offered an optimistic historical parallel, suggesting that a new technology doesn't just create a new path forward, but can also liberate existing art forms.

  • Liberation through technology: This historical relationship, where a new technology pioneered a new understanding of art, provides a powerful lens through which to view the current moment. "Abstract painting only exists because photography made hyper-realistic painting unnecessary," he said. "In fact, it liberated painting." With fewer constraints, new avenues of creativity open. AI can serve this purpose in the 21st century.

Despite the challenges, the emotional reactions, and the opportunities for AI in the arts, Govaere stressed the imperative for creatives to engage in the ongoing conversation, warning that the biggest risk is the failure to participate in shaping AI's trajectory. "If you disengage completely, you don't get a seat at the table to discuss where you want things to go in the future," he warned. "That is the biggest risk."