From Hollywood to streaming, AI is firmly in show business—and it isn’t leaving anytime soon

This was noteworthy because AI has long been portrayed as a villain in Hollywood. Wasn’t AI a major point of contention in the dual strikes by Hollywood writers and actors just two years ago, which resulted in agreements to guarantee that workers retained control over the new technology rather than having it replace them?

However, these days, AI seems to be omnipresent. It is unavoidably and often controversially making its way into almost every domain of the entertainment industry— video games, TV shows and movies. Here in India, the AI-reimagined epic narrative of Mahabharat for the TV screen has created buzz. A new standard for Indian entertainment may involve tying together technology, advancement, creativity and genres; AI may be the thread here.

Reportedly, an AI Ramayana is also being developed. Earlier, in July, Bedard Piya, a generative AI-powered animation series based a popular story by Pratilipi of the same name, debuted on YouTube.

AI has been accused by many of replacing humans in the workforce. But is it also supplanting human creativity? In June, El Eternauta, an Argentine sci-fi series based on the legendary Argentine graphic novel by Héctor Germán Oesterheld, marked Netflix’s first official use of generative AI (GenAI).

This serves as a broader indication that AI may be incorporated as a key creative collaborator in the development of content worldwide. Reportedly, the visual effect for which AI was used was 10 times faster and more cost-effective than conventional visual effects. It might, thus, be an executive roadmap going forward.

There are also a number of related recent events. When Particle6, the AI production studio, unveiled Tilly Norwood, a 100% AI-generated actor, at the Zurich Film Festival in late September, it shocked film industries worldwide. Norwood’s developers even believed she would compete with real-life human movie stars like Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. Recall that in the 2013 Spike Jonze film, Her, Johansson voiced an AI operating system, making her an unintentional emblem of AI.

But Eline Van der Velden, the comedian and business owner of Particle6, likened Norwood, the AI bot—which is just data and a bunch of codes—to a paintbrush or a tool. Van der Velden, further declared that, “The age of synthetic actors isn’t ‘coming’—it’s here.”

The AI wave may potentially have an impact on the advertising industry too. Sydney Sweeney’s contentious ‘great jeans’ advert has already been re-enacted by Norwood. And in the August print issue of Vogue magazine, a modest two-page ad for the California clothing company Guess featuring a picture-perfect blonde model “produced by Seraphinne Vallora [using] AI” caused a stir in the fashion world.

A lot of sci-fi films and TV series, however, were quite prescient. For instance, a 2023 Black Mirror episode titled ‘Joan is Awful’, explores the ethical ramifications of employing AI to produce performances without permission. The episode was thought to be extremely topical because it was written before the release of ChatGPT and the 2023 Hollywood strikes.

So, whether we are excited or are scared, AI is already very much here and in the entertainment business, too. However, it’s still unclear how it would alter the world—and the entertainment industry— going forward. We have witnessed AI-enhanced software emerging in a variety of ways lately, in de-ageing actors like Tom Hanks and Harrison Ford or re-enacting deceased actors.

The intrusion of AI is, thus, inevitable—and irresistible. Some people welcome prospects of a reduction in production costs and time and enhanced quality. However, many associated with these industries are worried, and resistance persists.

Also, data is known to be the lifeblood of AI. To train GenAI models, a vast amount of data is required. Internationally, over the last few years, many leading media companies have even filed lawsuits against different AI firms alleging unauthorised uses of their copyrighted content as training data for AI models.

Overall, GenAI is undoubtedly transforming media and entertainment, ushering in a new era of story creation, consumption, experience and productivity for the media industry.

Yes, deepfakes and copyright will continue to be significant concerns until and unless these issues are settled.

Also, the crucial question of whether GenAI can only be restricted for creative empowerment—and not just for creative replacement— would continue to haunt us.

The author is professor of statistics, Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata.