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"I strongly feel that AI is an insult to life itself." - Hayao Miyazaki I'm going to start using this quote.

by notfed 1y ago

badsectoracula 1y ago
AFAIK that wasn't a general response to AI but of a very particular implementation of a procedural animation system shown to him by some (IIRC) students for the movement of a disabled person and he found it distasteful as it reminded him of someone he knows who is disabled and had issues moving. The quote was taken a little bit out of context.
the_af 1y ago
Have you watched the video that goes with it? It's online, and very amusing. Regardless of how you feel about AI, the specific instance Miyazaki was reacting to was, indeed, an insult to life itself!
- frozenseven 1y ago
  It's out of context. They used reinforcement learning to make a ragdoll move. So much drama over nothing.
  - the_af 1y ago
    What do you mean? As far as I know, the context is that Miyazaki hated it because it reminded him of a friend with disabilities. That's why he said it was an insult to life itself. Miyazaki's attitude to tech in general is ambivalent, isn't it? He used to be very conservative and traditional, yet in Princess Mononoke you can tell he used some CGI. I think I agree with his approach: the work/vision comes first, and tech can be used but not as a gimmick, and always careful not to overpower the artistry.
    - frozenseven 1y ago
      For what the demo actually was, Miyazaki's reaction didn't make sense. The anti-AI activists' use of this soundbite makes even less sense.
      - the_af 1y ago
        I agree it's taken out of context in current AI discourse. It's just a fun anecdote. > For what the demo actually was, Miyazaki's reaction didn't make sense. Hard disagree. Miyazaki explains his position in the video (reminded him of a friend with disabilities, etc). Plus there's an aesthetic and art sensibility to his opinion; this is Miyazaki, not just any other author. The failure was probably on his subordinates, they forgot who they were demoing to. It's like showing a 3D game demo to someone who fundamentally dislikes 3D in games (or gore to someone who dislikes gore, etc). I mean, sure, it could land... but most likely it won't. It doesn't really say much about AI in general, this was Miyazaki's personal take and an amusing quote that is too much fun to resist mentioning.
        frozenseven 1y ago
        I guess I have a very different take on these types of outbursts. Especially when it's coming from these 'revered' figures.
  - Ekaros 1y ago
    I think it was and probably still is valid statement on where reinforced learning tend to end to. Something in essence exploiting the physics system. I think there would be lot less backlash if the end was graceful, smooth and natural looking. But it was not.
    - frozenseven 1y ago
      Getting 3D models to move in a natural way through RL is largely a solved problem. And listen to what they were saying in the video. Whatever they were demoing there, they were also thinking of using for a zombie model in a video game. Ragdolls in video games wasn't a new concept at the time either. Out of context & blown out of proportion.
perching_aix 1y ago
[dead]
Kuinox 1y ago
You changed the quote: His statement was about a specific technology, an AI that make 3D character move like zombies. The author is also changing the subject of the quote. He said it reminded him of a disabled friend that this technology was an insult to life itself.
senko 1y ago
Except it was hallucinated (by a human, no less): https://www.reddit.com/r/aiwars/comments/1jsq1bc/psa_hayao_miyazakis_insult_to_life_itself_quote/ https://www.reddit.com/r/aiwars/comments/1jsq1bc/psa_hayao_m...
randcraw 1y ago
Or maybe, "I strongly feel that Artificial Intelligence is an insult to Human Intelligence."
merksoftworks 1y ago
This is a misquote - the two minutes of context around the content he was commenting cause it to make way more sense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc He's right that to someone who's art is about capturing the world through a child's eyes, the dreamlike consonance of everyday life with simple fantasy, this is abominable.
brabel 1y ago
You should see the context in which he said that. It was 2016. It was no ChatGPT he was talking about. It was some truly bizarre art that was going on back then, like a sort of humanoid form trying to learn how to walk without being given instructions... it would do disturbing things like us its head as if it was a limb and move in completely unnatural ways... that's what he, and most who watch that video, found so disturbing. But of course, taking things out of context and using a powerful sentence as if it were referring to something entirely different to make your own point is more fun.
- bee_rider 1y ago
  Lots of quotes are out of context, it’s a great like with the context stripped from it.
- antegamisou 1y ago
  > It was no ChatGPT he was talking about As if it's in any way less horrifying having the entire Internet infested with AI slop.
- myhf 1y ago
  Do you think that the more refined version is somehow less of an insult to life itself? It wasn't a statement about how refined the art style is. It's about the meaning and intentionality that goes into deliberate communication, and how tools designed specifically to skip over the decision making and deliberation are removing the most important part of the result. Look at all the AI-written and AI-illustrated articles being published this year. Look at how smooth the image slop is. Look at how fluent the text slop is. Higher quality slop doesn't change the fact that nobody could be bothered to write the thing, and nobody can be bothered to read it.
  - brabel 1y ago
    Watch the video someone else linked... it has nothing to do with textual AI. It's about a grotesque digital creature. It reminded the artist of a disabled person, which felt insulting to him. You can have your opinion on the topic but don't hijack someone else's opinion on an entirely different topic.
deleted 1y ago
[deleted]
indoordin0saur 1y ago
He didn't say this about AI generally as far as I know. He was shown some kid's art project using an earlier AI and it just looked extremely uncanny in the way that is typical of bad generative art. So that's definitely a misquote, though I wouldn't be surprised if Miyazaki dislikes AI.

"I strongly feel that AI is an insult to life itself." - Hayao Miyazaki I'm going to start using this quote.

by notfed 1y ago

"I strongly feel that AI is an insult to life itself." - Hayao Miyazaki I'm going to start using this quote.

AFAIK that wasn't a general response to AI but of a very particular implementation of a procedural animation system shown to him by some (IIRC) students for the movement of a disabled person and he found it distasteful as it reminded him of someone he knows who is disabled and had issues moving. The quote was taken a little bit out of context.

the_af 1y ago

Have you watched the video that goes with it? It's online, and very amusing. Regardless of how you feel about AI, the specific instance Miyazaki was reacting to was, indeed, an insult to life itself!

frozenseven 1y ago
It's out of context. They used reinforcement learning to make a ragdoll move. So much drama over nothing.
- the_af 1y ago
  What do you mean? As far as I know, the context is that Miyazaki hated it because it reminded him of a friend with disabilities. That's why he said it was an insult to life itself. Miyazaki's attitude to tech in general is ambivalent, isn't it? He used to be very conservative and traditional, yet in Princess Mononoke you can tell he used some CGI. I think I agree with his approach: the work/vision comes first, and tech can be used but not as a gimmick, and always careful not to overpower the artistry.
  - frozenseven 1y ago
    For what the demo actually was, Miyazaki's reaction didn't make sense. The anti-AI activists' use of this soundbite makes even less sense.
    - the_af 1y ago
      I agree it's taken out of context in current AI discourse. It's just a fun anecdote. > For what the demo actually was, Miyazaki's reaction didn't make sense. Hard disagree. Miyazaki explains his position in the video (reminded him of a friend with disabilities, etc). Plus there's an aesthetic and art sensibility to his opinion; this is Miyazaki, not just any other author. The failure was probably on his subordinates, they forgot who they were demoing to. It's like showing a 3D game demo to someone who fundamentally dislikes 3D in games (or gore to someone who dislikes gore, etc). I mean, sure, it could land... but most likely it won't. It doesn't really say much about AI in general, this was Miyazaki's personal take and an amusing quote that is too much fun to resist mentioning.
      - frozenseven 1y ago
        I guess I have a very different take on these types of outbursts. Especially when it's coming from these 'revered' figures.
- Ekaros 1y ago
  I think it was and probably still is valid statement on where reinforced learning tend to end to. Something in essence exploiting the physics system. I think there would be lot less backlash if the end was graceful, smooth and natural looking. But it was not.
  - frozenseven 1y ago
    Getting 3D models to move in a natural way through RL is largely a solved problem. And listen to what they were saying in the video. Whatever they were demoing there, they were also thinking of using for a zombie model in a video game. Ragdolls in video games wasn't a new concept at the time either. Out of context & blown out of proportion.

perching_aix 1y ago

[dead]

Kuinox 1y ago

You changed the quote: His statement was about a specific technology, an AI that make 3D character move like zombies. The author is also changing the subject of the quote. He said it reminded him of a disabled friend that this technology was an insult to life itself.

senko 1y ago

Except it was hallucinated (by a human, no less): https://www.reddit.com/r/aiwars/comments/1jsq1bc/psa_hayao_miyazakis_insult_to_life_itself_quote/ https://www.reddit.com/r/aiwars/comments/1jsq1bc/psa_hayao_m...

randcraw 1y ago

Or maybe, "I strongly feel that Artificial Intelligence is an insult to Human Intelligence."

merksoftworks 1y ago

This is a misquote - the two minutes of context around the content he was commenting cause it to make way more sense: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngZ0K3lWKRc He's right that to someone who's art is about capturing the world through a child's eyes, the dreamlike consonance of everyday life with simple fantasy, this is abominable.

brabel 1y ago

You should see the context in which he said that. It was 2016. It was no ChatGPT he was talking about. It was some truly bizarre art that was going on back then, like a sort of humanoid form trying to learn how to walk without being given instructions... it would do disturbing things like us its head as if it was a limb and move in completely unnatural ways... that's what he, and most who watch that video, found so disturbing. But of course, taking things out of context and using a powerful sentence as if it were referring to something entirely different to make your own point is more fun.

bee_rider 1y ago
Lots of quotes are out of context, it’s a great like with the context stripped from it.
antegamisou 1y ago
> It was no ChatGPT he was talking about As if it's in any way less horrifying having the entire Internet infested with AI slop.
myhf 1y ago
Do you think that the more refined version is somehow less of an insult to life itself? It wasn't a statement about how refined the art style is. It's about the meaning and intentionality that goes into deliberate communication, and how tools designed specifically to skip over the decision making and deliberation are removing the most important part of the result. Look at all the AI-written and AI-illustrated articles being published this year. Look at how smooth the image slop is. Look at how fluent the text slop is. Higher quality slop doesn't change the fact that nobody could be bothered to write the thing, and nobody can be bothered to read it.
- brabel 1y ago
  Watch the video someone else linked... it has nothing to do with textual AI. It's about a grotesque digital creature. It reminded the artist of a disabled person, which felt insulting to him. You can have your opinion on the topic but don't hijack someone else's opinion on an entirely different topic.

deleted 1y ago

[deleted]

indoordin0saur 1y ago

He didn't say this about AI generally as far as I know. He was shown some kid's art project using an earlier AI and it just looked extremely uncanny in the way that is typical of bad generative art. So that's definitely a misquote, though I wouldn't be surprised if Miyazaki dislikes AI.