Being able to make AI-generated films on Disney + was certainly not on my bingo card for 2025. Now it appears as if it might happen anyway.
Recently, Bob Iger, CEO of Disney, announced that,
“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 and to consume user generated content — mostly short-form — from others,”
This has received much backlash, with one news article going so far as to state,
“Iger clearly failed to read the room.”
Frankly, this could not be closer to the truth.
Many artists and/or fans of Disney are very much enraged by this decision, stating that this undermines the original creativity and appeal of the company.
It’s understandable why people are so angry at Disney for doing this. After all, Disney’s success is built upon the backs of storytellers, artists, and creatives. Disney using AI, even in just a casual way, to enhance the experience of Disney + seems almost like a betrayal to the people who built Disney or are currently working for the company.
Another thing to consider, however, is how this could negatively affect those who choose to use AI to make and produce art. However, it is also important to consider how this could negatively impact those who choose to use AI to make and produce art.
Is using AI a good idea?
As you are probably already aware, Disney is not the only company that allows customers to use AI to make creative work. Websites such as Chat GPT and Sora AI allow users to generate images and stories at the click of a button.
Even music can now be composed using AI, with AI artists such as Xania Monet and Breaking Rust being well-renowned among the public for their compositions.
While I personally believe that using AI in this way is wrong, I can somewhat understand why many might have the temptation to do so.
Making a creative work, no matter the medium, requires a significant amount of time, practice, patience, and diligence.
But with AI, you don’t have to worry about needing to develop a skill in order to get your ideas out into the world.
Nevertheless, the problem to consider is whether using AI to make something will actually produce more creative work.
How AI lacks the same creativity
You might have heard before how AI lacks the same creativity as humans do.
Well, what if I told you that there is proof?
Recently, the Mack Institute conducted an experiment on just how creative AI is able to be.
People were put into two different groups, prompting groups with creative tasks, such as giving them a fan and a brick and instructing them to come up with an idea for a toy based on those materials. One group was allowed to use AI while the other was not
When examining the data, researchers found that the groups that did not use AI came up with more creative and diverse ideas from one another. In fact, about 6% of the AI-generated ideas were considered to be original, while 100% of the human ideas were considered original.
Terwiesch, the co-director of the Institute, stated that,
“The ideas are great, but not as diverse as human-generated ideas. That points to a trade-off to be aware of: If you rely on ChatGPT as your only creative advisor, you’ll soon run out of ideas, because they’re too similar to each other.”
A study was conducted evaluating whether or not authors used AI for story ideas or prompts. According to the article, authors who used AI had less diversity in ideas from one another.
In addition, using AI extensively might also make your ability to think creatively much more difficult.
How AI affects critical thinking
Creative thinking has been deemed as a subcategory of critical thinking.
Critical thinking is defined as,
“a multifaceted cognitive process that involves the capacity to think clearly and rationally, understand logical connections between ideas, evaluate arguments, and identify inconsistencies in reasoning.”
Researchers studied 666 participants from across different ages and backgrounds, testing how AI affected their critical thinking skills.
Apparently, using AI actually disrupts critical thinking and causes cognitive offloading. This makes people who use AI less and less likely to actually use their minds when solving a problem.
These researchers even state that,
“The pervasive availability of AI tools, which offer quick solutions and ready-made information, can discourage users from engaging in the cognitive processes essential for critical thinking.”
The advantages of learning a creative skill
Whether you are for or against AI, it’s very hard to deny that human creativity is incredibly useful to society.
According to the National Library of Medicine,
“Creativity is defined as the ability to generate novel and useful ideas or products.”
While true, AI can generate creative ideas, the lack of diversity in them might actually make it more difficult for true innovation and progress to occur, since they are less likely to form ideas outside of the status quo.
In addition, there are many psychological benefits that come with creativity. It can improve your mood, enhance your ability to learn, and allow you to understand other people’s perspectives on a matter more easily.
What’s fascinating is that creativity involves the combination of the cognitive control network in your brain (used for problem solving), and the default mode network (used for daydreaming). Often, these two networks work separately from one another. The only exception seems to be when you are developing a creative skill.
Even more importantly, happiness and having a creative hobby are strongly correlated with one another.
Researchers conducted a study for whether or not this correlation was true by observing 359 Chinese college students from the ages of 17 to 41 who were learning English. They found that by teaching them the language through creative activities, students were generally happier and more likely to find meaning in life.
Rose Gabler, an author, even described her experience of being a writer, a creative profession, by stating,
“When I accepted the fact that I had my own unique creativity to share I began showing up for myself in new ways. This allowed me to trust myself more, appreciate my personal values in a new way, and I was able to cultivate an environment of learning for myself. I gave myself opportunities to experiment, to succeed, and to fail in a healthy and safe mindset. All of this fueled deeper self-awareness, appreciation, and love.”
Conclusion
I’ll admit, I might be a little biased towards how we should be using AI.
Growing up, I always liked doing creative crafts and hobbies. And while the things I make were certainly not masterpieces, I found joy in the process of making those things.
I think that one of the main things that using AI to make these things misses out on is the love of creating something just for the sake of it.
Thinking creatively and developing patience towards improving upon a skill can be draining. But by taking the time to build upon a skill, you start to enjoy the process of making that thing, along with the result. In addition, by making something yourself without using AI, you can be 100% proud of your work.
Because, really, how can you be proud of making something through AI, if AI was the one doing all the work?
