Intro for November 14, 2025

Dear Gossips,  

Today in Just Feed Us To The Woodchipper Already news, Bob Iger said that Disney is having “productive conversations” with “unnamed” AI companies about bringing user-generated, short-form slop to Disney+. It’s part of a larger initiative of upgrades planned for their streaming platform, Disney+, which will also include “game-like features” on the platform. Can’t wait to have another reason to not watch Disney+.

As cynical as I am about AI, I am actually not convinced this comes to pass. I think we’re in some kind of CEO mania in which all the CEOs talk about AI incessantly because they’re overinvested in a technology that doesn’t actually do what anyone wants it to do, and they’re flogging the hype train as hard as they can before the bubble bursts. I feel like there’s an event horizon before us, either AI is going to cross it and become fully integrated into our lives like smart phones, web ordering, and social media, or it’s going to blow up in our faces like bitcoin, NFTs, and crypto. As we did a huge tech upgrade at my work this year which has resulted in nothing but a series of delays and outright catastrophes, I am inclined to believe the bubble will burst. I don’t think any of this sh-t works as advertised. 

Anyway, Bob Iger is out here throwing around buzz words on an earnings call because he has to sound like Disney is moving toward The Future, except it’s a future no one wants. Or at least, no one wants it in the current iteration. I saw this on social media and have been thinking about it a lot—I don’t want AI to make art, I want AI to fold my laundry so that I can make art. I know the laundry-folding robots are coming, and that is a technology that I hope really does develop and expand in ways that improve our everyday lives. I think we’re in a place where most of us are open to new tech that simplifies our lives, takes stuff off our plates, and helps make everyday living a little bit easier. 

But what Bob Iger is talking about is demanding your TV make slop because the actual century of Disney films and TV shows isn’t enough. It’s consuming vast quantities of potable water so a nerd can see a Star War about Leia falling in love with him. What’s the value add on that, Bob? The reason the whole AI pitch feels so sweaty is because a CEO like Bob Iger, fronting a storied media company with a century-long film catalog, should be pushing back on generative AI, pointing out that Disney has so many different things, why do you need your TV to vomit slop, when you already have so many actually good options at your fingertips? 

But all the CEOs have bought into the bubble, and now they’re trying to Ponzi scheme their way out of it by pushing it on us. I do not think user-generated shorts will add anything of meaning to Disney+, or just human life in general. But I will be absolutely furious if we end up in the Thunderdome because a bunch of MBA dorks push us too far onto the hype train. Anyway, here’s an article about disabling all the various AI products being pushed on us unwillingly. 

Live long and gossip,

Sarah