Tim Burton: “Artificial intelligence steals your soul”

Tim Burton: “Artificial intelligence steals your soul”



The director of Big fish takes a stand

Director Tim Burton, who boasts a prestigious filmography of feature films that began in 1985 with Pee-wee is great Adventure, is one of the masters of fantasy in cinema. In his interpretation of The myth of Batman (Batman AND Batman, the challenge), when he reveals Johnny Depp with Edward scissor hands – then he filmed great hits with him such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory AND Alice in Wonderland –once again when he delivers hilarious satire Mars attacks! or one gothic thriller with Sleepy Hollow: Legend of the Headless HorsemanTim Burton establishes himself as a unique artist and creator of fascinating universes.

With Guillermo del Toro, he is therefore the most “plasticistic” contemporary filmmaker, with an aesthetic universe partly inspired by the darkness and melancholy of one of his masters: Edgar Allan Poe.

Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) - Sleepy Hollow
Ichabod Crane (Johnny Depp) – Sleepy Hollow ©Pathé

Thus, when asked what he thinks about the development and use of artificial intelligence technologies in the world of cinema, Tim Burton does not mince his words in denouncing what he perceives as “a robot that would steal your soul“.

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Tim Burton against artificial intelligence

In a wonderful interview given to The Independent, the American director and creator spoke about several topics. His favorite actor Johnny Depp, his youth, his exhibitions and his new film Beetle juice2and then also expressed his opinion on the matter the growing use of artificial intelligence in audiovisual creation. In strong words, he says he is disturbed by these new tools:

They asked an AI to make my version of Disney characters! I can’t define the feeling it creates. It makes me think of other cultures that say, “don’t take my photo because it steals your soul.”

Frozen - Sleeping Beauty - Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Tim Burton version
Frozen – Sleeping Beauty – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Tim Burton version ©Buzzfeed

While admitting that these AI-generated creations were quite “Very good“, insists Tim Burton very unpleasant experience to see his cloned art.

What this does is take something away from you. It takes something from your soul, from your psyche; It’s very disturbing, especially if it’s personal. It’s like a robot that takes your humanity, your soul.

Even Wes Anderson is worried

Subjected to the same experiment of reproducing his universe by an artificial intelligence, Wes Anderson, another great filmmaker-creator, also spoke on the subject in the columns of the Daily Beast, surprisingly. In fact he didn’t go to see them imitations of his creations, but he strongly implied that he had no interest in doing so, in the sense that he did not see no interest in this technology.

I haven’t seen any (of these artificial intelligence creations, ed.). Of course it would be easy for me to go and see them online. But I chose not to. I think it’s because I don’t want to be bothered. It’s a bit like if someone told you: “Your friend imitates you very well”. Maybe you’d say, “I’d like to see that,” or maybe you’d say, “I don’t want to see another version of me, no matter how beautiful she is.” This can result in: “Am I like this?”. And that’s not necessarily what you’re looking for. I know I’ll see them sooner or later. But I’ve never seen a TikTok, for example, or anything like that. And I definitely won’t start with myself.

Source: Cine Serie

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