By Mallory Mattingly
Artificial intelligence’s creep into the entertainment industry has steadily grown, but recent moves from Disney show that Hollywood isn’t quite ready to embrace the tech wholeheartedly.
For Disney’s upcoming live-action MOANA movie, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will reprise his role as Maui from the animated movies. The company considered using AI to digitally clone Johnson and use a body double for some shots, Deadline said.
“Disney would work with AI company Metaphysic to create deepfakes of Johnson’s face that could be layered on top of Reed’s performance in the footage — a ‘digital double’ that effectively allowed Johnson to be in two places at once,” the Wall Street Journal also reported.
But when Disney and Metaphysic couldn’t reach terms, Deadline said, the footage was scrapped.
Additionally, Disney’s upcoming film TRON: ARES is all about AI and how it impacts the real world. Several “executives pitched the idea of actually incorporating AI into one of the characters in the sequel to the 1980s hit movie TRON as a buzzy marketing strategy,” the WSJ said.
Ultimately, that idea was dismissed because “executives internally were told that the company couldn’t risk the bad publicity.”
Related: Bringing Back Walt Disney: A Family Scandal or Celebrating His Legacy?
The entertainment giant isn’t opposed to using AI. In fact, a statement released earlier this year about its “responsible use of artificial intelligence” shows it’s eager to work it into various projects.
“Disney is a place of storytellers and innovators. A place that marries imagination and innovation,” the statement began. “It has a rich history of blending storytelling and technology to bring imagination to life and connect people to iconic characters, stories, and brands. We embrace the promise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a tool to benefit our employees, customers, guests, and creators. We are committed to using AI in a responsible, human-centered, and ethical manner that recognizes the value of human creativity.”
“We understand that AI presents both incredible opportunities and distinctive risks,” the company continued. “We have established an AI governance process based on a principle-based framework and our generally applicable policies that embody our commitment to operating responsibly and with integrity throughout our business.”
The statement adds that their use of AI will be “fair, free from bias and discrimination, transparent as appropriate to the circumstances, and consistent with our standards for privacy, data security, and journalistic integrity.”
“We work to exercise appropriate human oversight, protect our intellectual property rights, and respect the intellectual property rights of others,” Disney concluded.
While Disney’s recent forays into AI use in movies haven’t made to the big screen yet, the company will certainly lean into the tech in the future.
Read Next: How Did Disney Imagineers Bring Walt Back to ‘Life’?
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