Before Will Arnett presented the Oscar for Best Animated Short Subject at the Academy Awards on Sunday, he had something to get off his chest – specifically about the use of AI.
He chose to shout out “the creative people who bring these animated stories tonight.”
Arnett continued: “Tonight, we are celebrating people, not AI, because animation, it’s more than a prompt. It’s an art form and it needs to be protected. Am I right?” The crowd then erupted in applause and there was some light banter between Arnett and his co-presenter Channing Tatum.
It was a direct assault on artificial intelligence and the way that people largely imagine that animated features are produced. It was even more striking because it followed a bit of patter between Arnett and Channing in which Channing assumed that Arnett was only a voice actor because of his work in things like “Bojack Horseman,” “The LEGO Batman Movie” and more, with a slight insinuation that voice work is a less accepted form of performance.
The Best Animated Short was won by the gorgeous and moving “The Girl Who Cried Pearls,” while Best Animated Feature went to streaming juggernaut “KPop Demon Hunters.”
Arnett has also provided voices for “Monsters vs. Aliens,” “Ratatouille,” “Despicable Me,” “Teen Titans Go! to the Movies” and many more. All very real performances, made without the use of AI.
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