AI in entertainment: Balancing innovation and creativity amid industry transformation

The recently concluded strike by Hollywood writers brings to the fore one aspect, which is a key topic of discussion in these times: the use of Artificial Intelligence or AI in the realms of creativity. The writers’ association was able to secure some guarantees against the use of the AI in script writing; and this has been touted as one of the first significant battles against the use of the AI in the workplace, especially in the field of creativity.

We have already seen the remarkable impact of AI on human creativity. The world watched in awe when a Silicon Valley-based product designer made money by selling a children’s book created solely using ChatGPT. After Ammaar Reshi published the 12-page picture book on Amazon, it raised questions about the potential of AI to replace creativity and sparked concerns that it might supplant human creativity, especially in the entertainment domain.

AI in OTT

Artificial Intelligence has already found its use cases in the OTT domain. So, the question is: will the integration of AI and OTT platforms impact the entertainment industry, particularly in terms of content creation and distribution?

AI has always been a part of OTT platforms, says Robert Godinho, MD, MM India. “Right from personalisations of content based on your viewing patterns on the front end to enhancing buffering quality and speed along with data analytics on a more macro level, AI is going to be the key transformer in human life. India alone is a land of almost 400 languages. A simple example of the power of AI would be being able to reach a 1.5+ billion population (India alone) with a single piece of content that can span these diversities. Some say AI and its integration into our lives is going to be as big as electricity and fire/heating. Climate change, exploring space, and developing treatments for cancer, the potential is clearly there,” he adds.

“Picture this: AI and OTT platforms are like a new director in the entertainment industry, bringing a fresh perspective. They understand what the audience wants to see, leading to personalized shows and movies. They're also part of the creative process, helping with script analysis, spotting trends, and even taking care of some production tasks. When it's time to release a new show or movie, they know exactly where and when to do it for the best audience response,” says Preksha Soni, Senior Manager - Client Servicing, TheSmallBigIdea.

As someone who has spent 25 years in the entertainment industry, Navin Shah, Joint MD, EMC Solution Worldwide, has seen a huge transition of business being from analogue to becoming completely digital. According to Shah, AI has been transforming various industries, and entertainment is no exception.

He lists out benefits of AI in the entertainment industry:

• Personalisation:AI algorithms can analyze user data to offer personalized recommendations for movies, TV shows, and music. This helps entertainment companies to retain customers and improve their engagement with their content.
• Content creation:AI can generate content for the entertainment industry. For example, AI-generated music is becoming increasingly popular, and AI-generated scripts are used in the film industry.
• Production efficiency:AI can help improve the efficiency of production processes in the entertainment industry. For example, AI can automate video editing, voiceover, and post-production tasks, reducing the time and resources required.
• Audience analysis:AI can analyze audience behaviour and feedback to provide insights on improving content and increasing engagement. This information can be used to create better content that resonates with audiences and improves the overall user experience.
• Marketing and promotion:AI can analyze user data and social media trends to develop targeted marketing and promotion strategies. This helps entertainment companies to reach the right audiences and improve their overall marketing ROI.

Navin Shah further gives some real-life examples and use cases of AI in entertainment:

• Personalised content recommendations: Companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video use AI algorithms to recommend personalized content to their users based on their viewing history, preferences, and behaviour. Netflix uses a variety of recommendation AI models to suggest content to its users. One of the main models used is the collaborative filtering algorithm, which analyzes a user's viewing history and preferences to recommend similar content.
• Predictive analytics in movie-making: AI algorithms can analyze large amounts of data to predict the success of a movie before it's even made. For example, Warner Bros. used an AI tool called Cinelytic to predict the box office success of its movies.
• Virtual assistants for customer support: AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants are used in the entertainment industry to handle customer inquiries and support. For example, StubHub uses a chatbot to help users find and purchase event tickets.
• AI-generated music and art: AI algorithms can generate music and art that mimics the style of a particular artist or genre. , For example, AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Virtual Artist) is an AI composer that creates original music.
• Interactive gaming experiences: AI algorithms are used to create more immersive and interactive gaming experiences.For example, the AI-powered game "AI Dungeon" generates stories and scenarios based on the user's inputs.
• AI-powered special effects in movies: AI algorithms are used to create special effects in movies, such as creating realistic explosions and simulating natural disasters.
• Voice recognition and synthesis: AI algorithms are used to recognize and synthesize human voices in the entertainment industry. For example, Amazon's Alexa and Apple's Siri use AI to recognize and respond to human voice commands.

The future 

Studio executives are touting the disruptive properties of digital streaming and the transformative power of AI. And we can see examples of how AI has been utilised in the entertainment industry. At the same time, there are challenges and opportunities as well.

For our stars and storytellers, AI is a bit of a double-edged sword, quips Preksha Soni. “It might take over some roles, which is a bit scary. But on the flip side, it's also a new tool in their creative kit, helping with writing and opening up new ways to perform, like motion capture technology. The trick is to learn to dance with AI, not fight it,” she adds.

According to Navin Shah, these are very early days of AI. We can already see the application of a few Bollywood studios using AI. Some of the examples that he cites are as follows:

• Viacom18 Studios: Viacom18, a major film production company in India, has expressed interest in using AI for predictive analytics to assess a film's potential success.
• Ultra Media & Entertainment: This company has utilized AI-based techniques for the restoration and digitization of old Indian films, preserving them for future generations.
• Amagi: Amagi, an Indian cloud-based technology company, employs AI for subtitling and localization services. Their technology automates the process of adding subtitles in multiple languages.
• Location scouting: AI can be used to analyze satellite imagery, maps, and other data to identify potential locations for filming. For example, the Bollywood film "War" used AI to scout for locations for its high-octane action sequences.
• Set design: AI can be used to create virtual sets and prototypes, which can help filmmakers to visualize their ideas and save time and money on physical set construction. For example, the Bollywood film "Zero" used AI to create a virtual world for its futuristic setting.

Citing global examples to show how technology is disrupting the entertainment industry, Navin Shah lists out the following:

1. Digital avatars

A growing number of start-ups are betting on the future of AI-generated avatars, or “digital humans”. These avatars could be used to rapidly create promotional or educational content from a plain text script, for example. It also means videos can be easily updated. And the person speaking can be tailored to the audience, ensuring the content is diverse and inclusive. The technology is also stretching the bounds of the possible. Despite dying in a car crash in 1955, actor James Dean is being brought back to life by technology to walk and talk alongside real-life actors in a new film.

2. Synthetic voice

The internet is already full of celebrity voice generators, which allow you to replicate the sounds of everyone from Donald Trump to Taylor Swift, saying pretty much anything you might like. Unsurprisingly, there have also been several examples of deepfake versions of several celebrities, using cloned voices to make speeches they haven’t made. And voice-over artists in particular are concerned about the growing sophistication of this technology, with copyright law in this area still murky. But there are also positive use cases for the technology. After surgery for throat cancer, actor Val Kilmer used AI to digitally recreate his lost voice for the film Top Gun: Maverick. And Paramount Pictures even promoted the sixth iteration of its Scream franchise by allowing fans to get an AI-generated personalized call using the iconic quote to ask them if they “like scary movies”.

3. AI-generated scripts

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) wants to restrict the use of AI writing in film and TV scripts. The members have two core concerns: "We don't want our material feeding them, and we also don't want to be fixing their sloppy first drafts," says screenwriter John August, a member of the WGA negotiating committee. If existing scripts are used to train AI, that could be intellectual property theft, writers argue. However, for studios, using generative AI could help boost profitability, which is a particular concern for streaming businesses.

The World Economic Forum identifies generative AI in its Top Ten Emerging Technologies of 2023 report, noting that systems like ChatGPT can “increase productivity and improve output quality, restructuring human tasks towards idea generation and editing as opposed to rough drafting”.

4. AI-generated visuals

The 1993 film ‘Jurassic Park’ used pioneering CGI (computer-generated imagery) to scare audiences as dinosaurs were brought to life for the first time. Now it looks dated and less impressive – it is incredible how far image-generating technology has come since then.

A new AI application called Showrunner demonstrates the power of AI when it comes to animation and image generation. The Simulation, the company behind the tool, has released an episode of South Park based on the Hollywood strike. The episode was created using existing South Park content to train the AI model, and from the storyline and script to the animation, voice recording and editing were entirely produced by AI.

5. Task automation and augmentation

Like many other industries, AI offers the entertainment industry opportunities for automation and heavy lifting when it comes to repetitive or mundane tasks. It can also function as a co-pilot, augmenting the capabilities of production teams.

Already AI tools are available for video editing to significantly cut production time and therefore shrink the budget needed. It can allow teams to storyboard visual effects or bring in CGI on post-production editing.

6. Translation

South Korea’s largest music label HYBE has used AI to release a song by artist MIDNATT in six different languages. The South Korean singer’s voice was melded with native speakers of other languages to release the song in Korean, English, Spanish, Chinese, Japanese and Vietnamese. The singer himself can only speak Korean and limited English and Chinese.

“We are at a crossroads where the boundaries between reality and the virtual/AI world are becoming increasingly blurred”, opines Robert Godinho. According to him, distinguishing where one ends and the other begins may soon prove to be a challenging, if not impossible, task.

“Twenty-eight years ago, ‘Batman’ introduced the viewer to its first CGI double. Today we are at a point where all celebrities are seriously contemplating having their digital double created. It reduces celebrity time on films significantly and can further be used to orchestrate personalisation in visual content for the next phase,” says  Godinho.

According to him, writers today on the other hand are taking courses or deep diving into Generative AI so as to not only help build an idea pool for thought starters but also to proofread and autocorrect inconsistencies in their work.

“Yes of course, artists will think AI is a threat to their livelihood but one must also be cognizant of the fact that content consumption has evolved where the burn rate is multiple X higher and the retention span of the consumer is extremely low. Being traditional in these times is just going to be too slow and possibly outdated in the near future,” he says.

Hollywood strike

The labour strike in Hollywood is seen as a response to the changing landscape brought about by technology. It is important for the entertainment industry to strike a balance between adopting new technologies like AI and maintaining fair treatment of writers, actors, and other workers in the industry.

Balancing in the entertainment industry is like a high-wire act, points out Preksha Soni.

“We need to embrace the thrill of new technologies like AI, but we can't forget to take care of our performers, writers, and other workers. We can do this by making sure AI is a co-star, not the lead. Everyone has a part to play in this. Studios and tech companies need to be clear about how they're using AI and make sure it's working with us, not against us. Unions need to stand up for fair pay and job security in this new tech landscape. And we need rules from regulatory bodies to make sure technology is used responsibly.”

Navin Shah strongly feels that if we don’t adopt AI quickly and imaginatively, we will perish. According to him, AI is poised to revolutionize the entertainment, music, and video industry with its wide use cases and applications.

“The potential benefits of AI in these industries are numerous and varied, including improving the quality of content, enhancing user engagement, and providing personalized recommendations to consumers. AI has already made significant inroads in the entertainment industry by enabling the creation of virtual worlds, special effects, and animations that were previously only possible with a significant investment of time and resources. With the continued development of AI algorithms, we can expect to see even more realistic and immersive content,” Shah says.

He points out that AI has already shown its potential to improve the creative process in the music industry by generating new music compositions, remixes, and even lyrics.

This technology, he adds, can also assist in the discovery of new artists, personalized playlists, and improving music recommendation engines.

“Similarly, AI can also transform the video industry by improving the accuracy of video analysis, optimizing ad targeting, and enhancing post-production processes. With AI-enabled video analytics, businesses can monitor audience engagement and optimize content to improve customer satisfaction. The entertainment, music, and video industries are poised to benefit greatly from the application of AI. As technology evolves, we can expect even more innovative use cases and applications that will transform how we experience and consume entertainment content,” Shah says.

He personally thinks that AI is a great equalizer. Today, he says, Bollywood is attempting movies like ‘Brahmastra’, ‘Adipurush’, and action films like ‘Pathan’ and ‘Jawan’. “The budgets of these films are negligible compared to Hollywood films. Bollywood can harness the power of AI to create global and larger than life films. While there are many potential benefits to using AI in entertainment, there are also concerns about the impact it could have on jobs and creative expression. As such, it will be important to ensure that the technology is used ethically and responsibly,” he concludes.

When the consumption trend is multiple times higher than the creation trend there is no other way but to adapt and adopt, says Robert Godinho.

“That being said, I believe that there is a minor disruption in our usual work patterns, but over time, things will stabilise, and opportunities will increase for artists, including those in the film industry. Currently, OpenAI excels at generating content based on existing web data, which tends to be formulaic, but it may not perform as well when it comes to generating original ideas or innovative thinking. And so in the short term, this could lead to an explosion in the amount of low-value content but the long game would need human intervention to work with AI to be more efficient. Idea is King, and that will, for at least the foreseeable future, be human/ artist-led,” says Godinho.