During the hyper japan event this year, the crowds met to listen to the independent learned Helen McCarthy with the legend of the anime Mahiro Maeda in his career, his art and above all, his feelings on the rise of artificial intelligence in anime production.
Mahiro Maeda was invited to honor during the event in July and spent 45 minutes to speak with McCarthy while drawing a new live illustration for the public. Many fans will know Maeda of his work on Neon Genesis Evangelion And Nausicaa de la Vallée du VentThe latter on which he worked as an intermediate animator. The film – written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli – was notably published before the Ghibli Foundation, although it is generally considered a work of Ghibli because of its many production staff now commonly affiliated to the studio, as well as its main anti -War and Environmental themes.
The host Evangelion & Nausicaa takes a unique position on AI in anime production
Helen McCarthy, author of many books on the anime and co-author of The anime encyclopediaspoke with Maeda on various subjects, his art and his work with Western filmmakers like George Miller on a particularly controversial subject: the rise of artificial intelligence and its use in animation. Over the past two years, in particular, the use of artificial intelligence has exploded, and although many artists denounce its use, Maeda’s position on AI is perhaps unexpected. “I am very interested, personally, in AI and how it will affect our industry,” he said. “So, in our studio, we also use AI as an experience. The current situation is that if the format is a longer format, there are still deviations. We cannot create something with AI alone, but soon AI will be able to overcome this and create things.”
Maeda continue on to say that he has “touched on the limits we have and budget Constraints, but i think, evairetually, ai will overtake Some of the responsibility of human animators. I think the industry will become polarized in the future. Craft, artisanal anime will still be enjoyed, but i think Become a part of larger productions, for series with international reach like Evangelier“This differs considerably from the other creatives of the anime industry, with Hayao Miyazaki from Studio Ghibli, himself quoted as saying that he thought that AI is” an insult to life itself “.
However, Maeda’s point of view on AI in the anime field comes with warnings. “Similar things have happened when CGI started to use the anime industry. The tools that we could use as animators. But the heart of animation is emotions; influences on the public, but also how it makes them feel,” he said. “Yes, AI could play other roles in the creation of anime, but I think that the human public wants to see anime that has been created by people on machines. This emotional link is very important, and I hope that AI will remove the role of human animators but rather improve their work.”
It may seem a surprising comment of an artist like Maeda; However, his comments echo many initial reflections on the rise in computer -generated imaging. Although it was considered a gadget, he is now part of the daily television, film and of course the production of anime. “What I plan with regard to AI is that it will become even more competent by imitating human emotions,” added Maeda. “He will be able to do it very well but, as human beings, we must meet to see us, express emotions, but we cannot know what the other thinks. So, this logic would apply to AI, it would become much more friendly, more kind for us, but we will never know its true intentionS … I am sure that AI would be able to create something in motion, but I’m not sure it would be able to say what is real and what is not. We will have to wait and see. “”