AI, the WGA Strike, and What Luddites Got Right
WiredNov 30, 2022
The Facts
Reuters reported Tuesday, citing three sources, that the Walt Disney Company has recently launched a task force to study artificial intelligence, looking to develop possible in-house applications and partner with startups.
Disney has long invested in technology innovation, holding over 4k active patents and another roughly 2k that have expired. One of the first was filed by Walt Disney himself in 1936 for a table designed to make animating cartoons easier.
The Spin
Narrative A
Even though studios are still kickstarting their efforts in artificial intelligence, it's crucial to understand that this human-competitive intelligence is not risk-free — to the point that some AI experts and tech leaders have urged for a pause in its development. It's not because machines can write movies and series that they should, or that they will generate the best stories.
Narrative B
It would be irrational not to let artificial intelligence replace humans if it ever became able to produce more entertaining series and movies at a lower cost than we do. However, if live actors and human writers make better movies as they claim, then they have nothing to fear as consumers will refuse to spend their hard-earned dollars on inferior AI-generated products.