AI Robots Take Seats At NFL Game

The Los Angeles Chargers are leaning into their Hollywood home to promote movies, as AI robots were placed in seats at SoFi Stadium during their Week 1 game against the Miami Dolphins to help promote Disney’s upcoming science fiction film called “The Creator.”

“The Creator” debuts in theaters September 29 from Disney’s 20th Century Studios with a plot focused on a future war between humans and artificial intelligence. Disney showed the robots in the crowd on SoFi Stadium’s video screen, with the figures moving their robotic heads and sitting next to human fans.

This isn’t the first time Disney has utilized the massive double-sided video board at SoFi Stadium to promote a film; the screen was also used last year to promote a trailer for “Avatar: The Way of Water” during a Rams game.

SoFi Stadium in Hollywood Park is a natural fit to promote films as it is located near the center of America’s entertainment industry. The Creator’s promotion comes as SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America are on strike over labor tensions in Hollywood that largely stem from a lack of compensation from streaming services and AI’s threat to creative workers.

“There’s a level of creativity that the computers are never going to be able to replace that will always necessitate people,” sports media personality Bomani Jones told FOS in July. “What AI can do is write a game story. There’s a lot of things in our world that AI can do that really can affect the employment prospects that a lot of us have in this game.”

Jones, a former ESPN writer and host, attended a picket line event outside the CBS Broadcast Center in New York in July to show support for Hollywood writers on strike. Union leaders from the NFLPA, MLBPA, and NHLPA also attended the event to support the strike. 

Recently, newspaper publisher Gannett decided to pause its use of artificial intelligence to write high school sports articles after the technology’s recaps drew criticism on social media. 

Disney’s latest movie stunt at SoFi Stadium is reminiscent of the creepy actors placed by Paramount at MLB stadiums last year to promote its Smile horror film.