Geena Davis using artificial intelligence to diversify Disney's films

Geena Davis is to use artificial intelligence (AI) to help Disney analyse scripts to diversify its films.

The Thelma and Louise actress has founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, for whom University of Southern California experts have developed GD-IQ: Spellcheck for Bias, an AI tool that uses machine learning to check diversity in scripts.

According to The Guardian, Davis announced that Disney will be using the tool, which tracks percentages of "gender, race, LGBTQIA (and) disabilities" that apply to characters, as well as "non-gender-defined speaking characters" featured in scripts.

"We're going to collaborate with Disney over the next year using this tool to help their decision-making (and) identify opportunities to increase diversity and inclusion in the manuscripts that they receive," the star said at the Power of Inclusion event in New Zealand. "We're very excited about the possibilities with this new technology and we encourage everybody to get in touch with us and give it a try."

Davis added that the plan was not to "shame and blame" screenwriters but to reveal any biases in film projects before they entered production.

The star previously called on movie chiefs to cast more women in leadership roles, claiming that seeing female role models on screen would help girls realise their ambitions in the future.