Programmer asks if AI can replace manual animation work—reveals growing gap between AI capability and professional-grade creative output

A programmer on Hacker News asked whether waiting for AI to advance would be better than spending 5–6 years learning animation at the level of Demon Slayer (a anime series known for fluid, complex fight choreography), signaling that creators are now weighing AI tools against traditional skill development.

The question exposes a real bottleneck: AI image and video generation tools today cannot yet match the consistency, frame-by-frame control, and artistic detail that professional anime studios achieve—meaning anyone serious about high-end animation still needs either years of training or a large team of human animators.

For aspiring creators without animation backgrounds, this is a decision point: invest years learning the craft now, or gamble that AI tools will mature enough in 5–6 years to do the work for you—but that bet remains uncertain given how specialized and labor-intensive professional-grade animation remains.