Keeping this in consideration, when did CGI become a thing?
1973
Subsequently, question is, what is CGI in movie making? Computer-generated imagery (CGI) is the application of computer graphics to create or contribute to images in art, printed media, video games, films, television programs, shorts, commercials, videos, and simulators. It was first used in the 1988 film Willow.
Subsequently, one may also ask, why is CGI used?
CGI is used extensively these days because it is often cheaper than physical methods which rely on creating elaborate miniatures, hiring extras for crowd scenes, and most commonly for when it's simply not safe or humanly possible to create the visuals. CGI is created using a range of different methods.
How does CGI look so real?
Films use a process called raytracing, where every light beam entering the virtual camera is simulated - this produces a very photorealistic image but is mathematically intensive and can take hours to produce a single frame of animation.