AI brings Chiquito back to life and Málaga taxpayers are not happy
Málaga City Council funded a documentary that uses AI to revive the comedian Chiquito, and local taxpayers see it as a waste of their property tax money.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Chiquito is back thanks to AI, and the taxpayers are complaining
What does Chiquito de la Calzada have to do with an artificial intelligence project? Quite a lot more than Málaga City Council would like to explain. The council has funded a documentary in which the comedian is "brought back to life" through AI, and the public reaction was immediate: whose money paid for it? The taxpayers', the very same people who pay Spain's local property tax, the IBI.
The cost of digital nostalgia
Criticism went further: some point out that the city also invests in "purple points" and signage against gender violence — budget lines that, in the view of some, do not spark the same controversy. Others wonder whether Chiquito is really Málaga's best historical icon when Antonio Banderas is still alive, active and in no need of a digital resurrection.
AI as a cosmetic fix or as a tool
The debate has even reached the film world: why use AI to revive a comedian when it could de-age Harrison Ford for a new Indiana Jones instalment? The shadow of Anthony Ingruber, the actor who already played a young Ford, looms over the conversation. Of course, nobody asked the IBI first.
What does Chiquito de la Calzada have to do with an artificial intelligence project? Quite a lot more than Málaga City Council would like to explain. The council has funded a documentary in which the comedian is "brought back to life" through AI, and the public reaction was immediate: whose money paid for it? The taxpayers', the very same people who pay Spain's local property tax, the IBI.
The cost of digital nostalgia
Criticism went further: some point out that the city also invests in "purple points" and signage against gender violence — budget lines that, in the view of some, do not spark the same controversy. Others wonder whether Chiquito is really Málaga's best historical icon when Antonio Banderas is still alive, active and in no need of a digital resurrection.
AI as a cosmetic fix or as a tool
The debate has even reached the film world: why use AI to revive a comedian when it could de-age Harrison Ford for a new Indiana Jones instalment? The shadow of Anthony Ingruber, the actor who already played a young Ford, looms over the conversation. Of course, nobody asked the IBI first.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (10 replies).
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