Hollywood veteran Tim Burton said he’s uncomfortable with artificial intelligence (AI) being used to recreate his signature style.
The 65-year-old filmmaker discussed his thoughts during a September interview with The Independent. Burton elaborated on the pitfalls of using AI for animation in response to a Buzzfeed article that reworked Disney characters into the “Burton look” using this type of technology.
“They had AI do my versions of Disney characters!” the “Beetlejuice” director said. “I can’t describe the feeling it gives you. It reminded me of when other cultures say, ‘Don’t take my picture because it is taking away your soul.’”
He continued, “What it does is it sucks something from you. It takes something from your soul or psyche; that is very disturbing, especially if it has to do with you. It’s like a robot taking your humanity, your soul.”
AI has become a hot topic in the Hollywood community and is at the center of strike negotiations. Other filmmakers have also sounded the alarm, saying that the use of artificial intelligence should have guidelines and standards.
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Academy Award-winning director James Cameron said one of the biggest dangers is the “weaponization” of AI.
“You got to follow the money. Who’s building these things? They’re either building it to dominate marketing shares, so you’re teaching it greed, or you’re building it for defensive purposes, so you’re teaching it paranoia. I think the weaponization of AI is the biggest danger,” Cameron said.
“I think that we will get into the equivalent of a nuclear arms race with AI, and if we don’t build it, the other guys are for sure going to build it, and so then it’ll escalate,” he added. “You could imagine an AI in a combat theatre, the whole thing just being fought by the computers at a speed humans can no longer intercede, and you have no ability to de-escalate. I warned you guys in 1984! And you didn’t listen.”
Burton for one is sticking with the old school way of making movies. For the highly anticipated sequel “Beetlejuice 2,” he decided to use similar techniques as he did for the original 1988 movie.
“I tried to strip everything and go back to the basics of working with good people and actors and puppets. It was kind of like going back to why I liked making movies,” Burton told The Independent.