Daft Punk partly broke up because of their fears over AI (Artificial Intelligence) “beyond its use in music creation”.
The electronic pioneers – comprising Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo – announced their split after 28 years together in 2021, and the former has admitted that “the rise of artificial intelligence” in the world was a reason why they didn’t want to continue.
Speaking to the BBC, Thomas explained: “[As Daft Punk] we tried to use these machines to express something extremely moving that a machine cannot feel, but a human can. We were always on the side of humanity and not on the side of technology.
“As much as I love this character, the last thing I would want to be, in the world we live in, in 2023, is a robot.”
On why it was important to keep an air of mystery to Daft Punk by donning a disguise of android helmets, he added: “Daft Punk was a project that blurred the line between reality and fiction with these robot characters.
“It was a very important point for me and Guy-Manuel to not spoil the narrative while it was happening.”
The ‘Get Lucky’ duo announced their split in spectacular fashion via a dramatic video titled ‘Epilogue’.
In the video, the French pair – who are widely considered to be one of the most influential groups of recent decades – were seen sporting their trademark space helmets and leather jackets.
During the scene, one of the group looked at the other and revealed an energy pack on their back.
Then, the other member touched a button on the pack and a big explosion happened.
The eight-minute video clip cut to an image captioned “1993-2021” – in recognition of the group’s lifespan – before the scene transitioned to a setting sun.
Daft Punk released their last album, ‘Random Access Memories’ – which featured Nile Rodgers and Pharrell – in 2013, and it proved to be a critical and commercial success.
The acclaimed record actually won in several categories at the 2014 Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, Best Dance/Electronica Album, and Best Engineered Album.