Guess Who Decides the Role of AI in Hollywood? Oh Yeah, You, a Human.

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Generative AI adoption is underway at many Media & Entertainment companies, according to a survey developed by Variety’s VIP+ in collaboration with HarrisX.

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Ultimately, however, it is consumers who will vote for whether they want generative AI used in M&E content and how far and fast that should happen.

The analysis in “Generative AI in Film & TV” partly draws on 28 interviews with leaders at generative AI tech companies (including Pika, Runway and Metaphysic, among others), service providers and filmmakers. It also polled more than 1,000 consumers and another 300+ workers in the industry.

The survey found that, as of May 2024, 80% of M&E decision makers say their company is either exploring, testing or actively deploying GenAI in some form.

Nearly half of them (49%) say their employer has already implemented AI, while more than a third of workers in the US film and TV industry say they currently use GenAI (and another 28% say they plan to).

When it comes to implementation, the report expects GenAI to be used for concept design, VFX and marketing and distribution, as well as for content localization.

Obstacles to Adoption

It’s worth noting that 6% of those polled said that their company had banned any use of the tech.

That indicates that it’s not straightforward to greenlight the use of AI, even where there are clear cost benefits to doing so. This is particularly the case when GenAI is considered for use in final screen output.

The primary obstacles to the effective adoption of generative AI include a lack of skilled AI personnel (31%), potential consumer backlash or confusion about AI-generated content (27%), and legal restrictions (27%). Additionally, concerns about the quality and reliability of AI-generated outputs (25%) and uncertainty about the sources of AI training data (25%) are notable barriers.

The biggest drawback right now, however, is not ethics or legal or labor implications, but the final quality of generative AI output.

More than half of decision makers told Variety that the quality of AI-generated content was relevant to their decision to use GenAI, followed by its efficacy and accuracy (39%).

 

What Consumers Think Is Important

It is viewers and subscribers who will be the ultimate arbiter about the extent and timing of generative use in the content they watch.

Consumers have mixed feelings about the use of generative AI in creating the content they consume. While some consumers are intrigued by AI-generated content, many remain skeptical.

About 36% of consumers are less interested in watching movies or TV shows written using generative AI, compared to 23% who are more interested. This divide suggests that transparency and education about AI’s role in content creation are crucial for gaining consumer trust.

Consumers who regularly use AI tools tend to have a more positive perception of AI-generated content. For example, those with one or two paid subscriptions to AI tools rate their perception of AI-produced content in movies and TV shows at an average of 3.68 on a scale of one (extremely negative) to five (extremely positive), compared to 2.53 among those with no interest in AI tools.

That said, consumers may be more accepting of GenAI being used for specific aspects of production such as creating sound effects, illustrations for animation, and visual effects. Acceptance is higher when AI enhances the content experience, such as through seamless dubbing or the creation of high-quality visual effects, according to the HarrisX/VIP+ survey.

For example, 55% of consumers are comfortable with AI-generated sound effects that represent the action onscreen, and 51% are comfortable with AI-generated VFX such as making an actor look older for a role.

Forty-three percent of consumers are OK with AI-generated voice-over narration for docs or animated characters; 42% are fine with AI-generated theme music or original scores.

Acceptance is lower for AI-generated digital replicas of actors, with 27% comfortable with digital replicas of deceased human actors and 28% with digital replicas of living human actors.

Only 34% of consumers are comfortable with AI-generated scripts or screenplays, indicating a preference for human creativity in writing.

Variety points out that studios have generally avoided disclosing if and how the tech has been used, even in promotional content, for fear of backlash.

For example, Horror movie Late Night With the Devil faced a boycott after its directors disclosed the production had used AI for three still images that served as interstitials in the film.

Ultimately, the report finds that “consumer acceptance is likely to fluctuate” with evolving awareness about gen AI capabilities.

A ChatGPT-derived summary of the report says the “future of generative AI in Hollywood is bright,” but requires careful navigation of the complexities involved.

“Transparency, education, and collaboration between human creators and AI technologies will be key to realizing the transformative potential of generative AI in the entertainment industry.”