Walt Disney has put together a task force to investigate how artificial intelligence (AI) could be applied across the entertainment company, even as Hollywood writers and actors contend with the potential exploitation of the technology. Set up at the start of this year, prior to the writers' strike, the group aims to develop AI applications both internally and by forming alliances with startups, as reported by three sources. This interest is further reinforced by the 11 job postings that seek professionals with expertise in AI or machine learning. Ranging from Walt Disney Studios to the company's theme parks and engineering group, Walt Disney Imagineering, to Disney-branded television and the advertising team, these postings include the creation of a "next-generation" AI-powered ad system. The Disney spokesperson declined to comment.
An internal advocate spoke about the necessity of legacy media companies such as Disney to embrace AI or face being left behind. This individual believes that AI is a promising approach to help tackle the growing expenses of filming and releasing a movie, such as "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and "The Little Mermaid", which require box office earnings of up to $300 million just to break even. AI could also be employed to increase customer support or provide intriguing experiences in Disney's parks, said a source and a former Disney Imagineer. For demonstration, there is the machine-learning-based Project Kiwi which produced a small, free-moving robot that replicates the actions and persona of the character, Baby Groot, from "Guardians of the Galaxy".
The integration of AI in the film industry has become a contentious topic, with writers and actors apprehensive about the potential of job losses. This is also a crucial point in contract negotiations between the Screen Actors Guild and the Writers Guild of America, which have both gone on strike. Disney has been circumspect in its AI related public statements, with the visual effects supervisors of "Indiana Jones" highlighting the hard work of the over 100 artists who spent 3 years recreating a younger version of Harrison Ford.
Since its inception, Disney has invested in technological advancements. Its first example being "Steamboat Willie", the first cartoon to have a synchronized soundtrack, back in 1928. A search of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office records revealed that it currently holds more than 4,000 patents, with applications involving theme parks, films and merchandise. Upon his appointment as CEO in 2005, Bob Iger made technological development one of his three priorities. Three years later, the company announced a collaborative program with various renowned technology universities around the world to support research and development. Consequently, a lab was set up in the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich and the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The latter was closed in 2018. Disney's U.S. research group further created the “Magic Bench”, which uses mixed-reality to allow people to interact with virtual characters without the need for special glasses. Additionally, over the last decade, Disney Research Switzerland has been researching AI, machine learning, and visual computing and has developed “digital humans” indistinguishable from their actual counterparts, or fantasy characters that are effectively “puppeteered” by actors. It is worth noting that this technology is used to supplement digital effects, not to substitute human actors. Disney’s Medusa performance capture system has been applied to reconstruct actors faces using motion capture techniques, which has been used in more than 40 films that include Marvel Entertainment's "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever". According to one executive who has been in collaboration with Disney, its AI research has been exploring possibilities involving the production of movies, games and robotic creatures which can be found in theme parks. Hao Li, CEO and co-founder of Pinscreen, a Los Angeles-based company that generates AI-driven virtual avatars, said he collaborated on a number of research papers with Disney's lab when studying in Zurich from 2006 to 2010. Moreover, Disney Imagineering last year provided its first AI-driven character experience in the form of the D3-09 cabin droid in the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser hotel, which responded to guests' questions and learned based on conversations. Scott Trowbridge, an Imagineering executive, highlighted the significance of such a technology when he described it as "a very cool piece of technology".
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