Posted in: Disney+, Opinion, TV, TV | Tagged: ai, disney, the owl house

The Owl House Creator Hits Back at Bob Iger's Disney/AI Comments

The Owl House creator Dana Terrace hit back at Disney CEO Bob Iger's comments about the company exploring how AI can be used for Disney+.

During the company's earnings call late last week, The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger jumped into the big artificial intelligence (AI) debate in a very big way – and it's being met with serious pushback. While discussing ways in which Disney+ could be more interactive and personally customizable, Iger dropped a ten-ton hint that Disney has been in talks with AI companies about giving subscribers a chance to generate their own programming, utilizing Disney's IPs. "AI is going to give us the ability to provide users of Disney+ with a much more engaged experience, including the ability for them to create user-generated content," Iger explained. Though no companies were named or specific details offered, Iger noted that the company is approaching any potential deals with an eye on guaranteeing that copyrights aren't infringed. "It's obviously imperative for us to protect our IP with this new technology," Iger added.

To say the news wasn't received well by the creative community would be an understatement – and understandably so, considering it's their work that's essentially being taken, mashed up, and passed off as "original art." While Disney may be looking to safeguard its IPs, the writers, artists, and others who bring those IPs to life are left wondering who will protect them from having the value of their work cheapened and jobs taken away by AI. The Owl House creator Dana Terrace took to social media to express their feelings about Iger's comments, urging followers to "Unsubscribe from Disney+" and to "Pirate Owl House," and ending with a parting thought on generative AI. Terrace's award-winning animated series ran for three seasons on the Disney Channel (2020-2023):

"A 'regular person' can already create movies. Regular people create movies and art everyday. Every director, show runner, artist, film maker I know is a regular person, with limited resources, picking up pens, pencils, and styluses to create movies and art. EVERY. DAMN. DAY," Terrace posted in response to an individual making the argument that AI is benefit to up-and-coming artists who lack the resources to practice their art. "This post is bait, likely a bot, but I want to highlight how many REAL interactions I've had irl with similar sentiments. All artists are regular people! This is one of the beauties of art & storytelling. Literally anyone can do it without genAI data centers poisoning ppls towns."

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