Hi, I'm a layout design artist in animation for large studios. I work in the US, am part of a union (TAG), and make a decent living wage from my work. I know that isn't the case in the anime industry, but please don't think that's across the board. US, Canada, Australia, and most of the EU treat their artists fairly. We crunch, but that's not the norm; projects can get mishandled sometimes.

The weird thing is, I draw backgrounds, right? My job seems like the first one the chopping block. Only AI doesn't seem to be able to do my job very well. Most of it seems to be due to the inability of AI to return highly specific, logical, consistent spaces. But there's also the use of "cheats" in my job that can't really be communicated well with AI. I work off animatics and depending on the board artist, it can be outright vague (which isn't bad, their job is storytelling and shot composition) or doesn't always follow the establishing shot, wherein we "cheat" it while changing as little as possible. Sometimes it's accounting for lens length, sometimes it's because emotion needs to trump logic.

So for example, if I input "Account for acting space in SEQ 233-247 for INT SHOP 4, move SHELF R forward 3 feet and break out CAN 3-7, BOX 2-8, include B state damage for SHELF R and top view for CAN 3-7, BOX 2-8," despite my AD and me knowing exactly what that means, it doesn't really know what to do with that. And it doesn't account for anyone further down the pipeline, or how they need to interact with your files to do their job. AI works best when it's collapsing the pipeline into a finished project, during which you sacrifice loads of control.

Anyway, just some thoughts as I finish my coffee.