Director of Marathon denies use of AI in teaser and criticizes technology

The artist, director, and award-winning animator Alberto Mielgo, who won an Oscar, vehemently denied the allegations that the new eight-minute cinematic teaser of the game Marathon was created using generative artificial intelligence (AI). The video, which premiered months ago, returned to the spotlight this week, forcing Mielgo to speak out on Instagram.

"I can't believe we've reached a point where I have to clarify this, but here it is: this is not AI. HELLO," wrote Mielgo (via The Game Post and Eurogamer).

The director detailed the human effort behind the production, rejecting the use of bots: "Everything you see in this film: paintings, animations, 2D and 3D work, composition, and renders were done with an enormous team - 155 amazing people and many hours, days, months... Yes, our Achilles' heel: time."

When commenting on emerging technology, Mielgo said he had "no idea" about AI, but added a philosophical critique: "But one thing is certain: AI will never take away my (your) urgency or joy of creating art and painting. That part will never be replaced." The post was concluded with the ironic note: "(This text was kindly edited with ChatGPT XXX)".

In responses that were later deleted, Mielgo was questioned about plagiarism allegations at Bungie and suggested that the studio accidentally used the assets. This controversy follows yesterday's news (November 18th), that Bungie settled a copyright lawsuit with a writer who claimed that the story of Destiny 2 had borrowed elements from their original work.

With the dispute over the use of AI in Marathon now resolved, and with Bungie's history of copyright controversies, will the industry's focus on tracking the origin of digital assets continue to intensify under the pressure from creators like Alberto Mielgo?