The Wrap has reported that Disney CEO Bob Iger has shared his opinion on AI in Hollywood. He stated that he sees “phenomenal opportunities” in production and across departments at Disney on Thursday’s quarterly earnings call.
Artificial Intelligence in Hollywood has been a contentious issue, with debate over its use being one of the main sticking points in the 2023 Writers and Actors strikes. Vince Giligan’s (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul) Apple TV+ series Plurbris recently showed title card saying “made by humans” before an episode in support of writers and actors, via mxdwn. Additionally, shows such as Marvel’s Secret Invasion and the movie Late Night With Devil faced backlash over their usage of AI.
According to The Wrap, when asked about licensing content and IP to AI companies Iger said, “As we look ahead, we see opportunities in terms of efficiency and effectiveness by deploying AI, not just in the production process, but really across our company as we engage with our cast members and our employees, but also our guests and our customers,” Iger said.
He continued, “There are great opportunities in terms of our collection of data and our mining of data. And I’d say above all else, there’s phenomenal opportunities to deploy AI across our direct-to-consumer platforms, both to provide tools that make the platforms more dynamic and more sticky with consumers, but also to give consumers the opportunity to create on our platforms.” via The Wrap.
According to The Wrap, Disney, along with Universal, is currently embroiled in litigation with AI company Midjourney over allegations of copyright infringement. While acknowledging the ongoing legal proceedings, Iger noted that conversations around the technology have been “productive.”
Via The Wrap Iger stated, “We’ve been in some interesting conversations with some of the AI companies, and I would characterize some of them as quite productive conversations as well, seeking to not only protect the value of our IP and of our creative engines, but also to seek opportunities for us to use their technology to create more engagement with consumers, and we feel encouraged by some of the discussions that we’re having.”
According to The Wrap, Iger has noted the importance of protecting IP against possible infringement by AI companies but also shared that he was “hopeful that ultimately we’ll be able to reach some agreement in the industry or the company on its own with some of these entities that would, in fact, reflect our need to protect the IP.”