Netflix is currently receiving some backlash on the newly released anime short  “The Dog & The Boy” amidst the recent AI controversy.

Topics of AI-generated content have been making quite a stir in recent months and anime is now its recent victim. On January 31st, Netflix and WIT STUDIO released “The Dog & The Boy”, which depicts AI-generated backgrounds with the help of AI platform rinna, “as an experimental initiative to help ease the industry’s labor shortage”, as stated by Netflix Japan on Twitter.

If you are not familiar with the short, check out the video below:

With the rise of AI in the art world, it was no surprise that Netflix Japan’s Twitter was met with negative responses and in the words of the famous meme of Thomas the Tank Engine…

Twitter users responded with many “yikes” and fans pleading with Netflix and WIT Studios to hire humans, demanding to know if this was their solution for underpaying artists.

Over this last year, the art community has been battling the growing popularity of AI-generated art, with many artists and makers feeling the impact. Will it stop? What other roles will AI take over? Could they replace writers and voice actors? 

What did you think of The Dog & The Boy? What are your thoughts on AI? We’d love to know in the comments!