The role of AI image generators in teaching animation design

AI image generators are impacting the creative fields, however, their application in animation concept design education remains unexplored. The present study uses Bloom’s Taxonomy as a framework and adopts an exploratory case study approach, conducting a workshop with students. Three progressive tasks were implemented, with triangulation through student work analysis, questionnaires, and interviews. Preliminary findings suggest AI may provide support at lower cognitive levels and generate materials prompting reflection at higher levels, although observations require verification and should be interpreted cautiously. AI demonstrates strong visual translation for historical and cultural reproduction but suffers from shallow representation. Human–machine collaboration must center on human intentions, and students need critical AI understanding through reflective thinking. This study preliminarily constructs an AI-integrated teaching framework based on Bloom’s Taxonomy, reveals potential and limitations, and provides empirical support and references for the critical integration of AI in animation concept design education.