Travis Knight says generative AI is ‘antithetical to everything that we are’ at Laika

Travis Knight, Wildwood’s director and Laika’s CEO, told The Verge that generative AI is “antithetical to everything that we are” at the studio. He said tools such as computers, paintbrushes and 3D printers have value when placed in artists’ hands; when technology does the artist’s work, the result loses its humanity and involves using material created by other people, which he considers theft.

Wildwood took five years to complete, involving more than 230 puppets, 49 animators and more than 1,000 artists. Knight said he is not entirely opposed to AI outside the arts and acknowledged potential benefits in fields such as medicine and science, while expecting the technology to be disruptive to society.