The work got better. The argument disappeared. I'm not sure that's a win. In June, Henry Daubrez (a resident filmmaker at Google Labs) released chapter one of an AI-animated series called Junkyard King. Last week he released chapter two: longer, more ambitious, visibly better. It got roughly a third of chapter one's views. The views aren't the story. The comment sections are. June's is a genuine fight. Top comment: "prompting is just a glorified Google search, this doesn't belong to you." Another: "AI art isn't art. It's laziness and theft." Somebody demanding a disclaimer. And buried in there, the most valuable note in the thread (a viewer laying out exactly what gave it away: the voice work, the consistency of the cuts, the lighting and background changes between shots. Free, specific, craft-level notes from someone with an eye. August's comment section is almost entirely other AI filmmakers congratulating each other. A couple of people pushed back. The craft criticism is gone. I've been doing this thirty years and the most useful thing I've ever gotten is somebody outside the edit telling me what isn't landing. You don't get better without that person in the room. So the concrete version: if you have a real eye for this craft, your notes are worth something right now) precisely because the people building it are running out of anyone willing to give them. "The lighting changes between cuts" is a job description. "Learn to draw" gets ignored. What's your tell, the specific thing that gives AI footage away for you?
The piece
THE SHARPEST NOTE IN THE WHOLE THREAD ALMOST ALL OF THEM ARE OTHER AI FILMMAKERS THE ARGUMENT IS GONE
NOBODY LEFT TO TELL YOU THAT'S NOT A WIN YOU DON'T GET BETTER WITHOUT THAT PERSON
IT'S NOT “AI BAD” YOUR NOTES ARE WORTH SOMETHING RIGHT NOW RUNNING OUT OF ANYONE WILLING TO GIVE THEM NOTES
THE OTHER ONE IS A JOB DESCRIPTION WHAT'S YOUR TELL?
Source: JUNKYARD KING Chapters 1 & 2, Henry Daubrez / Odd Kid, YouTube. Go watch them.