In the wake of OpenAI releasing its new server-melting image generator that went viral for creating soulless simulacra of Studio Ghibli-style illustrations, CEO Sam Altman is slamming the haters — including, it seems, the man whose art he's cribbing.
During an interview with tech founder and YouTuber Arun Mayya, Altman dismissed newly-resurfaced criticisms from Studio Ghibli cofounder Hayao Miyazaki, who in 2016 lambasted an AI-generated animation he was shown as "creepy" and "an insult to life itself."
When Mayya — who says he created and deployed AI avatars of himself that allow him to enjoy "permanent vacation" — suggested to Altman that artists' concerns about AI are legit, the OpenAI cofounder claimed that the "trade-off is worth it."
He then claimed that it was "impossible" to make videos — or as they used to call it back in the stone age, being a filmmaker — just a few decades ago.
"Think what it was like to try to do what you do 30 years ago," Altman implored Mayya. "I mean, you'd need like a camcorder and like VHS tapes and then you'd have to like edit it in some complicated way. And then even if you did that, you would have to, like, distribute tapes, because there was no internet and no YouTube."
There are, obviously, several disconcerting inaccuracies being presented as universal sentiment there. The internet absolutely did exist 30 years ago — and has, in fact, existed for more than 40 years — and its advent did indeed help filmmakers learn editing tricks and distribute their work.
Obviously, it wasn't "impossible" to make video recordings in the year 1995 — many people old enough to remember at least part of the 90s recall their parents' home videos — and most high schools had audio/visual clubs and classes for those who wanted to learn how to edit video as well.
Unfortunately, Altman's asininity didn't end there. With just a smartphone and a dream, the CEO insisted, anyone who has "something interesting to say, they get it out there, and the world benefits from that."
We're not exactly sure how creating Ghibli-style images of historic disasters benefits the world, but we digress.
"Giving everyone more tools, making things easier, lowering the barriers to entry... does significantly increase the number of people that can contribute to society," the millennial tech mogul asserted. "And we all benefit from that, overall."
Were AI doing anything to democratize art and speech, we'd be inclined to agree. But thus far, for every instance of compelling generative art we've seen, there has been an endless stream of slop and bullshit that imitates existing styles rather than charting new territory.
In the face of prescient past criticisms from, perhaps, the greatest living illustrator in the world, Altman chose to extend half-baked platitudes — and frankly, it barely sounded like he believed his own conceit.
More on the irksome Altman: This Appears to Be Why Sam Altman Actually Got Fired by OpenAI
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