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Attention in Hollywood has turned from whether to use generative AI towards how to use it in practice.
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While tools like
Midjourney and ChatGPT 3 are not quite ready to auto-create CG video or script
the next blockbuster, there are numerous ways in which such tools can be of
benefit.
However, with power
comes great responsibility, says Joshua Glick, a visiting associate professor
of film and electronic arts at Bard College.
In an article
written for Wired, and a subsequent interview on the Marketplace Tech podcast,
Glick highlights some of the issues that filmmakers and producers should
address as AI enters the day-to-day.
He starts by saying
it’s doubtful that Hollywood studios will launch a major lineup of AI-generated
features anytime soon.
“Nor will viewers
likely want to completely forego the experience of collectively shared films or
series in favor of bespoke entertainment they create with a few sentences of
prompt engineering,” he suggests.
“Even as
text-to-video software continues to improve at an extraordinary rate, it will
never replace the social elements crucial to the product Hollywood makes and
the culture that surrounds both gaudy blockbusters and gritty dramas alike.”
A more pressing
concern is that studios will use algorithm-driven predictive analytics to
greenlight only those projects they believe are sure to make money, “leading to
less diversity of form, story, and talent,” he warns.
The film and TV
industry has always used the latest tech it can to divine the next big hit and
in that sense AI tools that sift the data runes are nothing new.
Glick thinks
reliance on AI will challenge risk taking.
“It damages the
possibility of getting more films out there made by women and by people of
color when studios are just trying to make a film with the least amount of
risk.”
Similarly, the use
of AI to enable actors to play their younger selves is now a routine part of
the storytelling toolbox. De-ageing techniques have been used in films as
disparate as gangster drama The Irishman (2019), sci-fi
thriller Gemini Man (2019), and this summer’s tentpole Indiana
Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023). So-called “synthetic resurrection,”
where a deceased actor or historical figure is brought back to life to play a
role in the present is also highly likely to increase, he thinks.
“We’ll see deceased
figures come back around for the purpose of an eye-catching cameo, a supporting
part, or to smooth over the narrative complexities of a multi-year series or
franchise.”
De-aging is really
“an expansion of stardom or of the star body,” he says. “It’s taking the star
character and bringing them back to an early moment in their life, maybe
through time travel or a flashback or even into the future. It opens up
possibilities for what that character can do and where they can go.”
However, it would
be surprising if AI-as-lead became the norm. Glick thinks that even if it
becomes easier to negotiate “likeness rights,” these simulations have still not
cracked the problem of realistic fake humans — they have not crossed the
uncanny valley.
“Viewers’
discomfort would not necessarily stem from the image itself, but from the
cognitive dissonance of trying to square the knowledge of the character’s
digital construction with how real they seem on screen.”
He also makes the
point that de-ageing to date has been applied largely to the make up of white
male actors.
“It’s often aging
white male bodies that are brought back into past moments of their self rather
than women and people of color.”
As AI technologies
move into mainstream production, conversations need to be had critiquing its
use, including “the need to have it expand across a much more full and
inclusive spectrum of character, actor and actress.”
He cites a reported
use of AI in post-production on the Netflix acquired movie Fall, reported
by the Los Angeles Times to remove curse words from scenes and
synthetically alter the actors’ faces to match new dialogue recorded after the
original shoot.
This could, of
course, save a lot of money on reshoots, notes Glick. “It could also help
movies perform better overseas by avoiding cheesy overdubs,” but he observes
that actor’s unions are concerned. SAG-AFTRA told the LA Times this
is likely going to be a big topic for contract negotiations going forward.
According to Allied
Market Research, the global generative AI industry will soar to $126.5 billion
worldwide by 2031, rocketing from $8.15 billion in 2021 on the back of a 32%
growth rate.
What’s more, the AMR
report pegs media and entertainment as grabbing the highest share of one-third
of the overall generative AI market between now and 2031. It attributes this to
the surge in the use of AI to create virtual and augmented reality experiences.
Furthermore, while
the market is set to be largest in North America over the next decade, growth
is fastest in Asia-Pacific at a CAGR of 34.4% due to the presence of a vibrant
start-up ecosystem in the region with many companies formed to develop and
commercialize AI technology.
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