"Is motion design dying?" and "is motion design a good career?" show up together in search suggestions, and r/MotionDesign has many threads on it. It is a fair worry.
What AI already does well
Generating short clips, simple loops, template animations and variations. Tools across the industry, including LottieFiles, Rive, Spline and ExodeUI, now offer AI features. Cheap, generic motion work is under pressure.
What still needs a motion designer
Deciding what should move and why. Motion that must fit a brand system. Interactive motion with states, interruptions and edge cases. Product motion that must run on real devices. Reviewing and fixing AI output.
How to stay valuable
Learn interaction: state machines, inputs and runtime tools such as Rive or ExodeUI. Learn enough code to talk to developers. Build motion systems (tokens, guidelines), not only clips. Use AI to work faster rather than competing with it on price.
We make ExodeUI and build AI features into it, so we have a stake in this. Our view is that AI raises the value of designers who can direct and judge motion.