One of the most frequently asked questions our animation studio receives in 2026 is about AI in video production: should you use it or avoid it?
While AI may seem the inevitable choice for cheap and fast, there are a number of factors you might not be considering when it comes to your video production needs.
We’re here to weigh in, from the perspective of the artists behind some truly successful explainer animations (we’re talking quarter of a million dollars in donations successful – but check out our video for a few more great examples.)
With 93% of businesses and nonprofits saying video is a key part of their strategy and 67% of marketers who don’t use video say they plan to start, demand for video isn’t going anywhere. AI video feels like the ultimate answer…but is it?
So, as explainer video experts, why have we decided our videos will be completely human-created?
Simple: It’s the best choice for our clients.
Let’s break down the reasons why.
Great Content Requires Originality (NOT Reproduction)
In short, Large Language Models and Generative AI works through pattern recognition.
Just like your phone autocorrects your mistakes – thanks a ducking lot, autocorrect! – AI tools like Gemini predict how sentences or images form, basing those predictions off patterns noted across everything used to train the model.
So, these models can tell you what patterns show up in content. Yet, at the time of writing this article, AI still can’t tell you why content works or what impact replicating it will have in your specific context.
They simply replicate or summarize a version of what has been done in the past…often including all its existing errors and biases.
We partner with clients to develop representative characters that audiences will see themselves reflected in. Why? Because stories reach our hearts more effectively when they are developed with authenticity.
Humans are getting tired of these patterns. Not only do we recognize them… we begin to get bored of them, and stop paying attention.
Or, worse, distrust the business or organization sharing them. We’re sure you have some of your own anecdotes of coming face to face with content so clearly developed without the human touch, that it gives you that…icky feeling.
Furthermore, these results are not necessarily going to be culturally specific. A peer-reviewed study in Nature Magazine documents significant biases in Generative AI across six races, two genders, thirty-two professions, and eight attributes.
For accurate representation, human artists are the best option. We don’t use AI Animation because human-made content breaks through the noise.
Artists Make a Superior Product
Did you know that it takes twenty-three hours of human artistry to create one minute of animation?
Our clients are changing the world, and having real humans – with a variety of specific expertise – ensures they have the best resources to do just that. From project kick off to final file delivery, a human-produced explainer video might come across the ‘desk’ of upwards of ten different professionals.
To get a better idea of the unique perspective each brain brings to the table, explore the links in each bullet point for a peek behind the scenes at our custom Animation Studio.
- An award-winning scriptwriter refines your message and helps you learn more about what you’re trying to do and say.
- A voiceover artist brings your words to life. Nothing robotic. No weird intonation or mispronunciations.
- Innovative, seasoned illustrators and animators offer a unique vision and create custom characters that represent your audience accurately.
- A project manager who is an expert at helping you stay on time and on budget, meaning you’ll get excellent and exceedingly friendly customer service.
Human Made is Actually More Efficient
Naturally, our team has been testing AI animation from the first product launch.
We want the best for our clients, and if AI would offer them a better price point or product, we need to know so we can adjust our offerings accordingly.
However, we’ve definitively learned there is no one click solution to quickly create a video. It requires time to learn the process just like learning any other tool. And with newer AI, the process is getting more complicated and not less.
Animations of a high quality – those that begin to look like what a real human artist would provide – requires an expensive and powerful workstation, as well as time and money to fix the AI look and glitches.
If you’re going to invest similar amounts of time and money into a video, why not choose the option with more control and less frustration? This would be, of course, humans.
Having tried all the tools, we can assure you custom-creation by artists is the most efficient option for those who are not already prepared to work with the high tech required of AI video production.
A Note on Sustainability
You’ve probably heard the amount of energy required to fuel AI is immense. But you might not know about the human element that helps to power AI, particularly content moderation.
Check out this informative article from Time.com about the abuse of Kenyan workers who monitored OpenAI for toxicity. Or, watch this video covering someone’s real content moderation experience.
Increasingly, our clients are motivated by ethical concerns, which leads us further away from employing AI tools to produce animations.
Data Protection
Free tools typically use what they’re fed to train themselves. This means any information you enter into an AI tool could be incorporated into its answers for other users. While paid tools may offer more privacy, using the tools can become expensive.
Additionally, AI yields more consistent results when it is trained on vast amounts of data, so the more ethical or private tools tend to be at a disadvantage because they haven’t been trained on as much data. You may have heard this called the “privacy-utility trade-off.”
But you don’t have to worry about any of that with us. Our clients keep their data secure because no AI is involved.
A Note on Longevity and Legal Rights
In March 2026, the Supreme Court ruled that works created exclusively by AI are not eligible for copyright protection. This means that if you create a video using AI, someone can take it and use it for their own purposes without paying you or crediting you in any way.
With Seedance vs The World and the multiple lawsuits around fair use that Runway, Anthropic, and many other AI companies are facing, the business case against generative AI and large language models is growing.
Furthermore, in this quickly changing landscape, it is difficult to predict what tools will continue to be available (so that you can edit and update what has already been created with these tools), what will fall out of public favor and legal protection, and which will go out of business.
Better SEO
Search engines are de-prioritizing any content with AI markers on it.
We want our clients to get organic traffic.
It’s that simple.
We Like Humans
For you, our human-centered focus means that you’ll receive exceptional customer service.
You’ll never have to talk to a bot. Instead, you’ll have human experts to turn to, who are invested in your growth and respond quickly to calls and emails.
With over fifteen years of experience doing this work (and even more decades of design and storytelling wisdom among our staff), we know what works and why.
Our clients return to us time and time again as trusted partners (fun fact: over 40% of our clients return for a second project with us.) They report being happier and having more input on projects with us than when working with AI.
The Bottom Line:
AI is good for de-personalized content that doesn’t require legal protection and is intended for a limited audience.
Our clients choose our remarkable, human team for expert advice, exceptional creativity, and videos that get results.
Partner with an award-winning video production company:
