A Disney fan was outraged after discovering "unlicensed" depictions of Mickey Mouse made by artificial intelligence at their local mall, resulting in a disturbing holiday scene.
"This is so blatantly AI! It's disgusting!" the original poster wrote in a subreddit dedicated to calling out AI for harming artists, writers, and other creatives. They shared two images of the beloved character, whose classically sparkling eyes appear a bit more sinister than usual.
"His eyes are staring right into my soul," one Redditor observed.
"Wow, that first one is more disturbing than I thought it would be, and I didn't even have to zoom in," another commented.
Others encouraged the OP to report the images to Disney, which would surely want to address the situation if the mall used Mickey Mouse images without its consent.
The OP didn't provide further details about why the "art" seemed to be unlicensed. However, regardless of whether Disney gave the artist permission to depict Mickey, it's clear that AI-generated artwork isn't going away anytime soon — much to the chagrin of those who value the skill of creatives, who infuse life into their work in a way no computer system can.
If that's not enough reason for Disney fans to wish for an old-fashioned image of Mickey Mouse, there's also the reality that generative AI tech is notoriously power- and water-hungry, with just one search requiring four to five times more energy than a conventional web search.
And while the world generated a record amount of low-cost renewable energy last year, it still heavily relied on dirty fuels, per the Energy Institute. In other words, AI's power usage results in a lot of planet-warming pollution entering the atmosphere, contributing to an uptick in supercharged extreme weather driven by rising global temperatures.
Ultimately, Facebook AI researchers called AI's potential environmental effects the "elephant in the room," according to an article published by the journal Nature, though a breakthrough with a simplified algorithm may be key to reducing its energy needs.
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Nonetheless, even if researchers address the power requirements, it seems unlikely that AI-generated artwork will be introduced to the public in the near future without some backlash.
"This genuinely looks soulless, it's really creepy," a third commenter said of the AI-generated holiday scenes with Mickey.
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