Pixar cofounder Ed Catmull, 81, told Higgsfield AI CEO Alex Mashrabov in a Tuesday interview that workers worried about artificial intelligence should engage fully with the technology rather than resist it, arguing that learning the craft and working with toolmakers shapes how the technology develops.
The advice lands as employees across industries weigh whether adopting AI tools will keep them competitive or put their jobs at greater risk. Business Insider reported that some workers fear they are training their own replacements, even as workplace analysts say the technology is more likely to change and support many roles than eliminate them outright, at least for now. A separate concern, AI deskilling, has emerged around overreliance eroding the judgment and problem-solving skills of early-career employees.
What Catmull’s Interview Signals for Workers
- Catmull’s central argument: engagement with AI, not avoidance, determines who helps form the technology as it develops.
- He draws a direct parallel to the internet, which democratized both information and disinformation, and expects AI to carry the same dual nature.
- Workplace analysts cited by Business Insider say AI is more likely to transform roles than eliminate them, though deskilling risks remain a live concern.
From Lucasfilm to Pixar: A Career Spent Shaping New Tools
Catmull’s perspective is grounded in decades at the intersection of art and computation. In 1979, he joined Lucasfilm to lead its computer division, which developed technology for the film industry. In 1986, Steve Jobs acquired the division and established it as an independent company, Pixar, with Catmull as cofounder and president.
That history matters because Catmull has watched major technological shifts remake creative industries before. Having spent his career at the forefront of computer animation, he told Mashrabov that such shifts always carry two sides: they can create new possibilities while also bringing new problems. “We’ll have the same thing here without a doubt,” he said. “But it will get adapted because I do know that there are legitimate filmmakers who accept the fact that if you engage with the technology as it develops, you help form it.”
The Internet Parallel: Democratizing Information and Disinformation
Catmull likened AI’s rise to the arrival of the internet and social media. “When the internet first came out, the term you heard was it’s going to democratize information. It’s true. It did. It also democratized disinformation,” he said. He called that simply “the nature of the beast,” and expects AI to be no different.
His framing reframes the worker’s dilemma: the question is not whether the technology arrives, but which side of it people stand on. “Our question is: Where are we on the side? Where are we, in terms of engaging, developing it, and moving towards things which are of great use?” he said. For a workforce watching generative tools spread through studios, marketing departments, and codebases, that question is now a daily one.
Why Frustration Points Toward the Next Breakthrough
Catmull’s core recommendation to creatives is to engage fully rather than wait. “The main piece of advice is, besides learning the craft, it’s that things are coming whether we like it or not, and our best act is to engage fully with it,” he said. “And we engage by learning the craft, adding to it, working with the tool makers and with the artists and forming what it is.”
He added that when filmmakers run into AI’s limitations, those frustrations can point the way to the next breakthrough, because someone will eventually build a solution. “That’s how we move forward,” he said. In his telling, the workers who document where the tools fail become the ones who define what gets built next.
Deskilling and Replacement Fears in the Current Labor Market
The anxiety Catmull addresses is not abstract. Business Insider has previously reported that some workers worry they are training their own replacements, while workplace analysts say the technology is more likely to reshape and support many roles than eliminate them altogether — at least for now. There is also a growing concern about AI deskilling, where overreliance on AI can erode judgment and problem-solving skills for employees who are early in their careers.
Catmull’s answer to that fear is participation rather than abstention. He said legitimate filmmakers accept that if you engage with the technology as it develops, you help form it.
| Year | Milestone | Role in Technology |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | Joined Lucasfilm | Led the computer division developing film-industry technology |
| 1986 | Co-founded Pixar after Steve Jobs’s acquisition | Served as president of the independent company |
Where the Technology Goes Next Depends on Who Engages
Disclaimer: The information provided in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
