Walt Disney Establishing an AI Task Force to Transform Technology and Reduce Expenses

Establishing an AI Task Force to Transform Technology and Reduce Expenses: The Walt Disney Company has formed a “task force” to investigate the company-wide application of artificial intelligence. The task force was formed earlier this year, prior to the WGA strike that began in May.

According to Reuters, the Walt Disney Studios, Parks, Imagineering, Disney Branded Television, and the advertising team are just some of the areas where the company currently lists eleven job descriptions involving artificial intelligence or machine learning.

Post-production senior vice president positions for Disney Branded Television are situated in Burbank and pay between $270,500 and $371,900 annually. If only AI could simplify travel to Burbank!

Establishing an AI Task Force to Transform Technology and Reduce Expenses

The goals of the AI group include assisting in controlling the rising costs of film and television productions and improving theme park customer service. The task force is also entrusted with using machine learning to create a Baby Groot robot that can learn, move, and potentially interact with future park visitors. How challenging is it to programme a single dialogue line?

The Reuters report makes no mention of the use of generative AI to create screenplays or films. Instead of replacing actors, Disney’s AI tools in post-production are used to augment digital effects. Nevertheless, striking writers and actors have made AI a central part of their collective bargaining agenda; SAG-AFTRA leadership views generative AI as a potential existential threat that could cost its members their livelihoods.

On a May earnings call, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that artificial intelligence (AI) presented “pretty interesting opportunities” and “substantial benefits” for the company. He was referring to the fact that Disney had already begun using AI to better serve consumers and create efficiencies, rather than as a content-creation tool.

Iger remarked at the time, “It is also evident that AI will be highly disruptive and difficult to manage, particularly from an IP management standpoint.” He then joked that an AI version of Iger could one day supplant him on earnings calls. Perhaps Iger has discovered a successor.

Aside from the jokes (his and ours), some individuals were upset when it was disclosed that the opening titles of the Marvel episode “Secret Invasion” were created using generative-AI techniques.

Obviously, this is not a problem unique to Disney: AI experts are currently in high demand. Netflix, Sony, and even Donald Glover’s company have all posted positions concentrated on artificial intelligence. Last week, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, a senior negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, told the Los Angeles Times that the high salaries being offered for such positions indicate that companies are establishing “a post-strike dynamic around AI” and are “looking to the future and attempting to be strategic.”