Stories

The potential — and hype — surrounding machine learning, artificial intelligence, and especially generative AI is everywhere. Some are predicting a full suite of “this changes everything” advances in all industries, for all professions, and for people in their public and private lives. - Harvard Business Review

The business acumen of those behind the scenes at Disney have been central to the peaks and troughs of the company’s enduring presence in the film industry and popular culture at large. - The Conversation

While publicized as an investment in art and beautifying the city, the location, impact, and funding sources of these murals seem to correspond closely with private real estate and corporate investments. - Metro Times Detroit

Sports betting company Penn Entertainment will pay Disney $1.5 billion in cash while ESPN will receive warrants worth about $500 million to purchase shares in the gambling company. Penn will operate the app and Disney will help market it. - The Wall Street Journal

Generally speaking, a sudden cancellation could mean an arena loses out on roughly $500,000 in revenue, according to some estimates. For music’s largest shows—stadium events—a dark night could mean the venue misses out on up to $1 million or more. - The Wall Street Journal

In an increasingly difficult fundraising climate, dealer involvement in museum shows has become ever more prevalent. This begs the question: are the works we see on museum walls actually for sale? - The Art Newspaper

Because that's how many people the bomb shelter at their home theater in Kyiv can hold. (No, this is not a joke.) - Toronto Star

Is musical drama better suited than film to represent tragedy without manipulating its audience? - Van

"A panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday upheld a lower court’s granting of a preliminary injunction stopping the law from being enforced until a trial is held in Orlando to determine its constitutionality." - AP

Last week, 6 percent of New York Public Radio’s workforce was let go — with most of the cuts targeting its podcast vertical, WNYC Studios. - The Verge

The scrolls, intact but carbonized and impossible to unroll, came from a library in Herculaneum destroyed by the 79 AD eruption that both wiped out and preserved Pompeii. Thousands of 3D X-ray images were released, and computer scientists took up what's called the Vesuvius Challenge to decipher them. - The Guardian

 “To state the obvious, the way we watch movies and TV shows is much different today than it was decades ago,” a Best Buy spokesperson said. - Variety

The January festival of new and experimental theater has been reassembled by founder/director Mark Russell, indie production company ArkType, and over a dozen theater companies ranging from La MaMa and Mabou Mines to St. Ann's Warehouse and Soho Rep to the Japan Society and Lincoln Center. - Playbill

The stores will sell merchandise based on hit Netflix shows, so you can finally snag that Lincoln Lawyer coffee mug you’ve always dreamed of. - Engadget

In 1989, a group of thieves disabled an alarm system and broke into the Haggs Castle Museum of Childhood and stole a cache of items, all missing until now. Robert Gemmell Hutchison's painting Children Wading (1918) was located after being consigned to a Yorkshire auction house by unsuspecting owners. - BBC