‘Wildwood’ Director Travis Knight Calls A.I. Technology “Theft”

LAIKA director and CEO Travis Knight is rejecting artificial intelligence in the studio’s filmmaking, calling it theft as he promotes his latest stop-motion feature, Wildwood, now in theaters. Asked whether LAIKA could use the technology in its filmmaking process, Knight told The Playlist’s Mike DeAngelo on The Discourse podcast: “Absolutely f*cking not.” INTERVIEW - Director Travis Knight on "WILDWOOD" “AI is theft. It’s the ingestion of years and years and years of human creativity and ingenuity, regurgitated back. It has no humanity. It has no spirit.” Knight acknowledged that AI could offer major benefits in medicine and analysis. His objection centers on replacing human creativity. He said LAIKA uses computers as tools to support its artists, but he doesn’t see AI serving that same purpose. “I’ve devoted my entire life to the human artist. I will continue to devote my life to the human artist,” he said. That commitment helped shape Wildwood, based on Colin Meloy’s novel. The film follows Prue, a girl who enters an enchanted forest after crows carry off her baby brother. Her search leads into a world of strange creatures, warring factions and dark magic. Knight first encountere...