The Limits of Disruption: AI and the Persistence of VFX Labour

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI are increasingly framed as transformative forces in film production, particularly visual effects (VFX). Yet current debates often overstate their replacement of creative labour or integration into final-pixel production. This article examines how AI is understood, evaluated, and constrained in contemporary VFX practice through qualitative analysis of twelve interviews with VFX practitioners and twenty-six online news articles published between January and June 2025. Using reflexive thematic analysis, it identifies three themes: hype and hyperbole, efficiencies and employment, and actual application. Findings show that AI is valued mainly for ideation, rapid visualisation, prototyping, decision support, and selected technical tasks, while final production use remains limited by control, continuity, fidelity, intellectual property, data provenance, and pipeline compatibility. The article argues that AI adoption in VFX is a negotiated sociotechnical process, not a seamless technological rupture.