Published: October 31, 2024

AI is coming to Disney. How will it change the company?

By Movieguide® Contributor

Like many companies today, Disney is looking at how to incorporate AI into its day-to-day operations.

While the company itself has yet to comment on its plans, an insider shared some details with TheWrap.

“The initiative is said to involve ‘hundreds’ of people at the company and will primarily focus on post-production and visual effects, The Wrap reported. “One of the individuals said it would also involve parks and experiences, but not customer-facing.”

“A company insider told TheWrap that Disney was working on its own AI initiatives but not as expansively as the other sources suggested. The insider said it was ‘too early’ to say when an announcement would come,” the outlet continued.

John Werner writes for Forbes suggests that AI will “create 3D immersive worlds with realistic graphics that are rendered differently than decades ago” and believes that AI in post-production will result in “thousands of human workers being laid off as part of this initiative.”

LightShed Ventures analyst Rich Greenfield explained“‘Disney has always leaned on technology partnerships. It makes a lot of sense that Disney is heavily focused on this, but also putting significant resources behind it.’

Disney CEO Bob Iger previously hinted at his support for AI and its capabilities.

“Walt Disney himself was a big believer in using technology in the early days to tell better stories. And he thought technology in the hands of a great storyteller was incredibly powerful… Don’t fixate on its ability to be disruptive—fixate on (tech’s) ability to make us better and tell better stories. Not just better stories, but to reach more people,” Iger said.

The CEO also mentioned that since AI is not going away anytime soon, it should be embraced.

“You will never stand in the way of that. There is not a generation of people that has ever been able to stand in the way of technological progress,” he said. “What we’re trying to do is embrace the change that technology has created and use it as the wind at our backs instead of wind in our faces.”

While the full extent of AI’s role in entertainment has yet to be fleshed out, it is unlikely to replace human creativity entirely.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos weighed in on AI during an appearance on actor Rob Lowe’s podcast.

“I think the creators who learn to use these tools better than everyone else will win … not companies that create, but people who create,” Sarandos said.

However, he doesn’t think AI would replace filmmakers because “it’s possible that AI can replicate or imitate these things, but there’s something about the authenticity and the reality of human experience that people see, and they can also see when it’s inauthentic.”

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