Filmmaker Tim Burton is the latest prominent Hollywood director to sound the alarm about artificial intelligence technology, saying A.I. is “like a robot taking your humanity.”
The director was reacting to a recent Buzzfeed article featuring photos that were generated by asking an A.I. application to create Disney characters in the style of Tim Burton.
“They had A.I. do my versions of Disney characters,” he said in a recent interview with The Independent. “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.’”
“What it does is it sucks something from you,” he continued. “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.”
Burton follows filmmakers James Cameron and Wes Anderson in warning about the perils of A.I.
Cameron recently predicted that A.I. could lead to an “arms race” between rival nations followed by a global war run by algorithms that will resemble the Terminator movies.
“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 deescalate,” he said.
Cameron’s comments follow similar remarks made by Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan, who said A.I. is about to reach an “Oppenheimer moment” — or a point of no return — and that people need to be “held accountable” for its development.
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