How AI Is Transforming the Entertainment Industry

Artificial intelligence is poised to change much about how we work and live—hopefully, all for the better. Many processes that can be optimized for machine learning leave more space for workers to focus on what humans do best: ideate and create.

Imagine you work in an office environment where you have to deal with a ton of paperwork day in and day out. This can be incredibly repetitive and time-consuming. So what’s best for workers—being forced to do menial tasks that can easily, and oftentimes more efficiently, be done by machines? Or better integrate systems and technology into companies to automate these repetitive tasks so people can focus on other aspects of their work? Companies that strive for efficiency and competitiveness clearly should opt for the latter.

To appreciate how digital transformation is changing society, it helps to examine how artificial intelligence and machine learning will impact particular industries. One industry poised for exponential change and growth? Hollywood.

How AI Will Change The Entertainment Industry

Film and TV sets have to (primarily) take place in person in order to create the shows and movies that we love—and it’s because of this that the entertainment industry experienced significant changes in 2020. AI carries the potential to benefit Hollywood in ways many wouldn’t expect.

Stage 32, a social and education network for the entertainment industry, has many predictions for how this transformative technology will help usher in a new era for Hollywood. Their experts say AI isn’t going anywhere. They believe that it is the job of creators (and anyone who aims to innovate) to partner with machines to craft the most technologically advanced films possible. This should be an exciting prospect for industry veterans and consumers alike.

Some of their predictions include using AI in creating script recommendations, which will help writing and production get done faster. They also predict AI “ethics checks” for language review, viewership quality control, as well as automated checks for violence, language, and discrimination. AI can also generate images for storyboarding to help writers capture their concepts more quickly.

Hollywood itself has done a great job of portraying AI and robots—sometimes in endearing ways (Her, A.I., JARVIS and Vision from Avengers, C3PO from Star Wars), and sometimes frighteningly (The Matrix, The Terminator, Ex Machina, Ultron from Avengers, HAL 9000 from 2001: A Space Odyssey). This proves that AI can be used to portray characters in a realistic fashion in order to benefit the industry.

Hollywood has welcomed the use of AI in other top films, including the Marvel Cinematic Universe and Star Wars franchises. While this industry isn't using AI in the form of self-driving cars or digital assistants, entertainment companies can use it in a more efficient, customer-based form and focus on leveraging it for education and product development.

Technology has always been a key player in Hollywood. Think about the advent of the first camera or the screening of the first motion picture film. This transformative technology changed the way people consume information and entertainment forever. Now, AI has the power to make things more efficient. One major area is film production. Hollywood already uses a lot of CGI (computer-generated imagery), but this will only increase as technology advances. AI can actually help create this imagery, which is much more cost-effective. AI can scan facial expressions in real-time, upload the scans to a computer, and help generate more life-like imagery.

Society can be skeptical about innovations in technology that seem unfamiliar. While some are worried that AI could take jobs away and negatively impact our lives, it is important to see it as a tool that can be used positively or negatively. For most industries, AI is actually creating space for humans to do the jobs only they can do and leave the tedious, time-consuming tasks up to machines.

At the intersection of art, technology, and innovation lies artificial intelligence. We would be remiss not to utilize it. Instead of viewing these upcoming technologies as threats, let’s pursue ways of integrating them into our work, and our lives, in order to create a more innovative and efficient future.