Walt Disney has created a task force to study artificial intelligence and how it can be applied across the entertainment conglomerate, even as Hollywood writers and actors battle to limit the industry's exploitation of the technology.
Launched earlier this year, before the Hollywood writers' strike, the group is looking to develop AI applications in-house and form partnerships with startups, three sources told Reuters.
As evidence of interest, Disney has 11 job openings seeking candidates with expertise in artificial intelligence or machine learning.
The positions touch virtually every corner of the company â from Walt Disney Studios to the company's theme parks and engineering group, Walt Disney Imagineering, to Disney-branded television and the advertising team, which is looking to build a “next-generation” AI-powered ad system, according to the job ad descriptions.
A Disney spokesperson declined to comment.
One of the sources, an internal advocate who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity, said legacy media companies like Disney must either figure out AI or risk obsolescence.
This supporter sees AI as one tool to help control the soaring costs of movie and television production, which can swell to $300 million for a major film release like “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny” or “The Little Mermaid.” Such budgets require equally massive box office returns to break even. Cost savings would be realized over time, the person said.
AI could enhance customer support or create novel interactions for its parks business, said the second source, as well as a former Disney Imagineer, who declined to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly.
The former Imagineer pointed to Project Kiwi, which used…