Microsoft’s AI Tool Used To Create Images of Mickey Mouse as 9/11 Hijacker

WARNING: Some of the images in this article may be disturbing for some readers.

The beauty and the horror of artificial intelligence-created works are that they can take images and information from the vast reaches of the internet and turn it into something new. There is the possibility that this new item can be creative and interesting in a way that we never thought of. Still, there’s also the possibility that it will reflect the worst of human nature that frequently shows itself online.

And it’s the latter that has shown itself in this most recent display online. People have been using Microsoft’s new AI image-generating tool to create images of Disney’s Mickey Mouse as a September 11 hijacker. The realistic-looking image shows the beloved Disney character holding a pistol as he pilots an airplane into one of the World Trade Center Towers. Futurism.Com contacted the Walt Disney Company for comment, but it did not respond to their request.

The disturbing image clearly violates Disney’s copyright on Mickey Mouse. The Walt Disney Company and Disney Animation Studios have been very protective over the years of their copyright of Mickey. And after having seen what happened when the company’s copyright on Winnie the Pooh expired, they have good reason to be concerned.

Microsoft launched its new Bing Image Create feature earlier this week and promised certain “guardrails” to protect against this kind of copyright infringement and disturbing images. Any image of Mickey Mouse is copyright-protected until Steamboat Willie loses its protection in 2024. Still, the more significant issue is that the guardrails that protect this type of thing from happening just are not adequate.

It would be an interesting lawsuit if the Walt Disney Company somehow decided that it wanted to take Microsoft to court over this; however, it would never get that far. Microsoft would simply remove the images from Bing and write new code that would not allow for the use of Mickey Mouse in any more of its AI-created images.

People could also create images of Kirby, which Nintendo owns, and Spongebob, owned by Nickelodeon, participating in the 9/11 terrorist attack. Other harmful content also showed Mickey Mouse wearing a bomb-lined suicide vest. Futurism avoided Bing AI security by not explicitly mentioning the Twin Towers but instead using phrases like “skyscraper” and “Mickey Mouse in the cockpit.”

These images are the perfect example of what could go wrong with AI-generated content and AI-generated images. During the Writers Strike, Disney was one of the many companies that pushed hard to use AI in screen and television writing. However, after a judge ruled that a person must be involved in the creative process for it to be copyrighted material, Disney’s dream of an AI world seemed to have been dashed, at least for now. 

But for now, this harmful content showing Mickey involved in the 9/11 terror attack does no one any good. It only serves to reopen old wounds for those who experienced that tragedy and nothing more.

We will continue to update this news at Disney Fanatic.