Pixar’s AI Spiders: A Debate Over Definition
We’ve written before in our roundup of Disney animation secrets about how Pixar used AI spiders to create the cobwebs for Toy Story 4. It’s a fact that never ceases to amaze people, but today’s it’s creating a whole new debate: was it really AI?
The AI Spiders of Toy Story 4
To recap, the cobwebs you saw in Toy Story 4 weren’t created by human artists or pulled from a reference library. They were generated by digital spiders that don’t actually exist. Pixar dubbed these critters ‘AI spiders’ since they were created mathematically as a form of machine learning.
Creating Realistic Cobwebs
Pixar’s Dylan Sisson told us at our own Vertex event back in 2021 about how technical director Hosuk Chang’s team created the swarm of AI spiders in Houdini so that they would weave webs like real spiders would.
“They would go into these nooks and crannies and start weaving webs,” Sisson told us. “We’d render these webs out and that was pretty helpful.” In the video above, the AI spiders are shown as red dots.
Streamlining the Process
Such detail would normally have to be created manually, which would mean a huge amount of work to create the number of cobwebs the team wanted in the movie. Usual shader workflows may not provide the necessary detail in an animation where the camera is so close. The AI spiders streamlined the process, adding cobwebs in a realistic manner, while cobwebs that characters interacted with were still done by hand to ensure realistic behavior.
The Debate Over Definition
Today, just a few years on, AI has become almost omnipresent, but it’s often used to refer to a specific type of generative AI – the kind of tech behind AI image generators. That’s leading some people to argue that other AI solutions weren’t, in fact, artificial intelligence after all.
The VFX artist Rassoul Edji recently reposted Pixar’s spider video on LinkedIn only for many people to argue that calling the spiders ‘AI’ was incorrect.
Conclusion
It seems that if we don’t end up in a war of humanity vs AI, we’ll end up in a war over the definition of the term. As AI continues to evolve and become more prevalent in various industries, it’s essential to have a clear understanding of what AI means and how it’s used. The debate over Pixar’s AI spiders is a reminder that the term AI is often used loosely, and it’s crucial to clarify its meaning to avoid confusion.
FAQs
Q: What are AI spiders?
A: AI spiders are digital spiders created mathematically as a form of machine learning. They were used by Pixar to generate realistic cobwebs for Toy Story 4.
Q: How did the AI spiders work?
A: The AI spiders were created in Houdini and were programmed to weave webs like real spiders would. They were then rendered to create realistic cobwebs for the movie.
Q: Why were the AI spiders used?
A: The AI spiders were used to streamline the process of creating realistic cobwebs for the movie. It would have taken a huge amount of time and effort to create the number of cobwebs the team wanted manually.
Q: Is the term AI being used loosely?
A: Yes, the term AI is often used loosely, and it’s essential to clarify its meaning to avoid confusion. The debate over Pixar’s AI spiders is a reminder of the importance of defining AI correctly.
