In recent years, AI technology has taken incredible strides. No longer are AI programs relegated to a restricted number of responses. Instead, as platforms like ChatGPT have shown us, they can now create highly personalised and even “Creative” responses to specific prompts.
As such, AI has become something of a hot-button issue in a number of industries. From the recording industry, contending with AI recreations of legendary singers, to artists, wrestling with the ethics of AI producing art from specific prompts. However, to one industry, in particular, AI poses a massive potential threat.
So how exactly will AI impact the film and TV industries? Will it have any positive impacts? Or will it simply wreak havoc on these historic industries? Let’s take a look at the facts!
How Will AI Impact The Film And TV Industries?
The film and television industries are quite complex and rely on quite a few moving parts. There are all kinds of creatives that come together to help bring a film or TV show to life. From writers to actors to visual effects departments. To find out the full breadth of AI’s impact on the industry, it would be best to analyse the impact it has had on these various creatives. And what impact it could have in the future.
How Will AI Impact Writers?
One of the most commonly cited benefits of AI for writers is its ability to supplement creativity. Every writer, from the absolute beginner to the industry professional, has experienced writer’s block at some point. AI can help by producing ideas and concepts that writers can then use in their own stories. Effectively bypassing the effect of writer’s block, and leading to a more efficient writing process.
The worry here, however, is that a lazy writer could simply ask AI to produce an entire film. They could do this with just a simple prompt. If a film or TV show written entirely by AI were to be financially successful, then studios may take notice. They may begin funding more AI-driven projects until human writers are effectively obsolete.
Film and TV writers worry about AI replacing them completely. AI programs can learn from existing scripts to come up with new scripts. As these AI programs grow more intelligent, studios may favour them over writers!
This worry, along with concerns over unfair pay, was a driving force behind 2023’s Writer’s Guild strike. Writers not only feared the loss of jobs but also the loss of “Humanity” in writing. AI programs draw from vast banks of knowledge pumped into them by their original programmers. These banks of knowledge contain millions of film and TV episode scripts. The AI program simply analyses all of these scripts to come up with a script that is mathematically calculated to be a hit with audiences!
Of course, this is a very cynical approach to storytelling. It would easily lead to fewer creative decisions being made.
How Will AI Impact Film And TV Actors?
While the Writer’s Guild faced its own strike, so too did the Screen Actors Guild. Again, the Screen Actors Guild campaigns for more fairness in pay. They are also resisting the oncoming dominance of AI in the film and TV industries.
Though we have yet to see an entire film or TV show produced using AI actors, we have already seen AI implemented in a number of ways. In 2016, Disney and LucasFilm released Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. It took viewers back on a journey that took place before the original Star Wars.
Because of its nature as a prequel film, Rogue One needed to bring back a number of legacy characters. One of these was Grand Moff Tarkin, played by the late Peter Cushing. With Cushing long deceased, the filmmakers digitally recreated his likeness. To do this, they used machine learning. While it was a very successful visual effect, it proved controversial in the industry. Many actors have since changed their contracts to stipulate that their likenesses cannot be used by AI after their death.
AI can digitally recreate the likenesses of actors. Actors worry that these programs could be used rather than hiring the actors themselves! Effectively, there could be a future with no need for new actors.
Many people believe that digitally resurrecting actors using AI is morally wrong. They believe that even if an actor’s estate consents to digital resurrection, it is still better to cast an actor to play a role in their place. Actors are particularly worried that digital resurrection technologies could become so effective that actors aren’t even needed. Studios could simply use AI technology to recreate actors and then use them in whatever films they need!
How Will AI Impact Voice Actors?
It’s important not to neglect the role that voice actors play in the film and television industries. AI is not only capable of recreating an individual’s likeness but can also recreate an individual’s voice. We’ve already seen this kind of technology used for nefarious means. Used to make it sound as if important public figures have said statements that have never once left their mouths! Within the voice acting industry, there is some concern that AI can be used to promote ideas that voice actors don’t agree with.
There is also concern that studios can take existing recordings from voice actors, and have AI produce new recordings indefinitely.
Despite this concern, a number of voice actors have already consented to having their voices digitally recreated in the event of their death. James Earl Jones, the voice of Darth Vader, famously gave his own blessing to any studios that wished to recreate his voice using old recordings.
Voice acting is also covered by the SAG AFTRA union. However, strides have yet to be made to protect voice actors from the impacts of AI in the future.
How Will AI Impact Minor Actors And Extras?
Ever since the early days of the film and TV industries, actors have had the chance to work their way up in the industry. Many of the most well-known actors in the industry got their start playing minor roles. In fact, many even played extras in a number of films before establishing themselves as actors. AI poses a very real threat to this chance for progression.
If we can simply bring back deceased actors, what need would the industry have for new talents? The 2023 SAG AFTRA strike seeks to limit the use of AI to replace actors, and to give burgeoning talents a fighting chance.
AI also affects the continued future of extras. Extras are needed for just about any film or TV production. They populate the backgrounds of individual scenes, to help give a sense of life to a setting. However, studios have been seeking to use AI to cut out the need for extras once and for all.
AI poses a threat to new and upcoming actors breaking into the industry. The fear is that AI can replace the need for extras to perform in films. This can keep actors from getting into the industry!
Studios have offered extras the chance to earn a full day’s pay for a scan of their likeness. This scan can then be used indefinitely and simply dropped into the background of any scene as and when needed. This would mean the extra would never need to show up on set ever again, and thus they would receive no income. While this saves studios a lot of money, it cuts out a lot of important jobs in the industry.
How Will AI Impact Film Production?
The AI revolution not only affects the actors and writers who bring characters to life. It will also have a severe impact on some of the other unsung heroes of the industry.
Visual Effects
Visual effects are crucial for bringing some of the year’s biggest blockbusters to life. Countless visual effects artists around the world pour over every frame of a film, ensuring that all of the digital effects look as real as possible.
Unfortunately, this means that VFX artists are often mistreated by the industry they work in. VFX artists are very commonly forced to work unhealthy hours to get effects done on time for big releases. It would be simpler for studios to not have to consider the health of their VFX artists. AI presents these studios with a very realistic way to get great VFX without having to worry about overworking VFX artists.
Visual effects artists can utilise AI to help improve the quality of their work. However, the worry is that AI might improve at such a rate that it can perform the work of VFX artists, rendering them obsolete.
With supervision, an AI can produce VFX more efficiently than VFX artists who need to take plenty of breaks!
While this would result in millions of dollars saved by studios, it would in turn result in unsatisfying effects that draw viewers out of the story!
Editing
AI can also completely replace film editors! Editors are responsible for taking all of the footage shot over the course of production, and splicing it together to create a coherent story. This can be a very long, but very rewarding process. A good editor can take an average film, and create a masterpiece.
While AI can streamline the process, it will often do it in a very cynical way. It will edit the film in such a way that maximises profit. AI is always focused on profit, and never on creativity.
Marketing
When it finally comes time to release a big-budget show or film, plenty of time and money needs to be spent on marketing. Marketing is an art form unto itself, and thus, it can take time to come up with a good campaign. Studios are seeking to spend less on marketing, while still creating marketing campaigns that lead to high profits. AI presents an easy avenue toward this.
AI can be used to analyse the audience demographics or prior box office successes. To determine the best possible marketing approach to take for a new film. While this can help to increase profits, by creating more successful marketing, it could lead to studios taking fewer risks.
Studios will be far less likely to produce films or shows that they deem “Difficult” to market. This could lead to creative stagnation throughout the industry!
Frequently Asked Questions
How Will AI Impact The Film And TV Industries?
AI has already begun to change the way TV and film are produced. However, concerns have been raised that AI could take over key jobs. Writers could be replaced with AI that produces guaranteed hits that lack a human touch or any artistic flair. Actors fear that their likenesses could be used by AI even well after their deaths.
What Are The Positives Of AI In The Film Industry?
One of the positives of AI in the film industry is its ability to handle some more menial tasks. VFX artists would not have to render every particle of a given effect. Instead, they can use AI to create realistic motion. AI can also be used to help prompt a writer’s creativity. AI can be useful, but it must be used in moderation.
Will AI Replace Filmmaking?
Although AI does threaten a number of crucial jobs in the film industry, it is not yet set to take over every aspect of filmmaking. There will still be creatives leading the production of films, but there will be fewer people taking up minor jobs, as they will likely be handled by AI. This could make the film and TV industries even harder to break into!
Will AI Get Rid Of Actors?
Although many SAG AFTRA members do worry about actors becoming obsolete, it’s likely that actors would never be outright replaced. AI can replicate likenesses, but it cannot replicate some of the smaller nuances of behaviour that draw us to certain actors. While AI does pose a threat, it won’t likely lead to the obsolescence of all actors!
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