Gobelins Paris, a prestigious French animation school, has admitted to using artificial intelligence (AI) in a student’s art project, sparking controversy and online criticism. Several students launched the website YANJIN to showcase an art project featuring an interactive children’s book aimed at educating kids aged seven to ten about bullying. However, French artists on social media raised suspicions that artwork from the project, specifically a drawing of a French flag, was produced via AI.
The students under fire clarified that the project was part of their “Project Management Degree in Communication and Graphic Industries” and not a direct undertaking by Gobelins Paris. The school, also known as the “Harvard of Animation”, has notable alumni like Pierre Coffin and Simon Otto, who were integral in the production of box-office hits like Despicable Me and How To Train Your Dragon respectively. As a result, the endorsement of the project by the school sparked disappointment and anger from artists online. Concept Artist Nicholas Kole, known for his work on Spyro and Crash Bandicoot, expressed his shock and disappointment, referring to it as a “disrespect to students and the legacy of great art that has passed through their halls.”
In addition to this controversy, an online discovery showed that Gobelins Paris offers a short two-week course teaching students how to use the popular AI art generator Midjourney, which invites further criticisms from artists. One such critique came from RaphDeee, a Twitch streamer and concept artist on Assassin’s Creed, who criticised the need for an AI-led course with a sarcastic remark about how it simply required “writing a prompt and pressing a random button”.
Following the criticism, Gobelins Paris released a statement acknowledging the use of AI in developing “several visuals” for the project. The institution also expressed its unawareness of the controversy surrounding AI’s threat to authentic artistic creation. They further clarified that the visuals were created by students destined for project management in the publishing world, not their animation or graphic design students.
This controversy sheds light on the ongoing debate regarding the role of AI in creative fields like art and the ethical implications of its usage. While AI can offer a range of new tools and opportunities for creative exploration, it also raises concerns about authenticity and originality in artistic expression.
