Sony Pictures/NBA
The NBA unveiled new AI technology over the weekend that allows users to watch games with a comic book aesthetic reminiscent of the Spider-Verse franchise
Called NB-AI, the technology will allow basketball fans to “use your voice to activate ‘movie mode’ and make a live NBA game look like your favorite film,” according to Commissioner Adam Silver.
https://twitter.com/NBA/status/1758528912609468454
“Today, AI is creating a similar excitement to what we saw around the early days of the internet,” Silver said while debuting the technology alongside San Antonio Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama at the NBA’s annual Tech Summit.
“Intuitively, most of us have a sense that artificial intelligence is going to change our lives. The question, at least for me, is ‘How?’”
Putting aside how relatively underwhelming the technology looked, the NBA found itself under fire from Chris Miller, the director and producer of the Spider-Verse films that the NBA’s AI tech is so clearly ripping off.
“I’m a big NBA fan, and I love that people are excited about Spider-Verse, but this janky-a– AI looks nothing like the hand-crafted innovative artistry of the films. For the record, as far as I know, they never reached out to us about ‘scraping’ the film’s style,” Miller tweeted following the debut of NB-AI at the league’s Tech Summit on Friday, February 16.
I’m a big NBA fan, and I love that people are excited about Spider-Verse, but this janky-ass AI looks nothing like the hand-crafted innovative artistry of the films https://t.co/roTKZcldKs
— Christopher Miller (@chrizmillr) February 17, 2024
Miller’s reasons for being frustrated are understandable, especially considering the fact that 2018’s Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse virtually revolutionized animated filmmaking. To see its trademark style not only so poorly reproduced, but to be done so by soulless AI clearly epitomizes the issue with AI-created “art.”
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse was released in theaters last year and has been nominated for Best Animated Feature Film at this year’s Academy Awards, which its predecessor Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse won back in 2018.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is now streaming on Netflix. You can watch the first 10 minutes of the film below.