Joseph Luster
December 12, 2016 
Revered anime director Hayao Miyazaki has never minced words when it comes to technology, and he didn’t hold back in recent comments on artificial intelligence. The topic came up during a special documentary program that aired on Japan’s national public broadcasting station. “Owaranai Hito (Neverending Man) Hayao Miyazaki” focused on the production of his first CG short, and one moment has him checking out a presentation featuring an AI program that learned certain movements.
After checking out what the presenters felt could be used for something like zombie animation, Miyazaki let his true feelings be known. He referred to a friend of his with a disability, and how difficult life is for him. According to Miyazaki, the creators of this AI demo have “no idea what pain is,” and he strongly feels that “this is an insult to life itself.”
Needless to say, Miyazaki won’t be using this technology in his work any time soon. At the end of the video he ruminates, “I feel like we are nearing the end of times. We humans are losing faith in ourselves…”
Check out the full clip:
Judging from the demo they showed and the person they showed it to, what did they expect? If this was just a ploy to get some choice quotes from a legend… it worked!
Via Crunchyroll
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