Harnessing the power of AI
The rise of AI presents both risks and rewards
We now find ourselves firmly in the midst of an AI-driven technological revolution that many expect will change the world as we know it. With GenAI entering the scene and platforms from ChatGPT, Bard, Midjourney, Dall-e, and hundreds of plug-ins rolling out, media companies are on the front lines of yet another wave of disruption. GenAI makes possible what had previously been only imagined in Sci-Fi movies, such as the ability to write a script or create artwork just by telling the “computer” what you want. While GenAI offers the promise to potentially bring full video and synthetic actors to the screen, these use cases are not ready for prime time. Regardless, these new tools place creative industries on the front lines of further disruption, creating unknown risks and rewards. So much so that studios and unions took significant time to come to an agreement on how to distribute earnings from streaming and how to blunt any adverse impacts of AI on future job stability while tapping into positive benefits that AI can offer the industry and consumers. This is no trivial debate. In the time it took to come to terms, an estimated $6 billion negative impact on the US economy was realized from the strike.
Using AI as a tool—not a substitute
While uncertainty and concern about its impacts are understandable, AI’s true potential lies in the ability to augment and support human productivity in the creative industries and will emerge as a powerful tool for creatives rather than a substitute.
For example, storyboard artists require a great deal of time to draft sketches of their creative ideas, as each iteration may require hours. With GenAI tools, an artist can quickly generate as many ideas as they need until they capture the essence of a visual concept. This tool could enable producers to pitch their stories to secure funding for their projects in days or even hours rather than weeks or months, and when successful, a storyboard artist will still be needed to bring the final high-quality content to life.
From a different lens, one can look at dubbing. Localizing high-quality content for diverse audiences is a creative, labor-intensive, costly activity, and typically, studios invest in dubbing content costs for only five to ten languages with very large audiences (e.g., English, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Chinese, Italian, etc.). However, with GenAI, companies will most likely add dubbing for languages that previously did not have a sizable enough audience to support the cost of this enhanced storytelling experience.
The three horizons of AI use cases
There are hundreds of AI use cases being uncovered across every sphere of M&C, from content production to distribution, marketing, sales, subscriptions, operations, customer support, and back-office solutions. With so many possibilities, companies are working to make sense of their AI journey. Many find it helpful to classify along three horizons:
Productivity: Do what you are already doing better, faster, and more efficiently
Differentiation: Do what you are already doing in a fundamentally different way
Disruption: Change the essence of your business
Some ideas across these horizons are shared here as examples, but there are countless others.
The perceived opportunities and threats of GenAI have already had an impact on the industry as a major focus point between studios and creatives, and further disruption seems certain. To truly harness the power of AI, leaders in the M&C industry should seek ways that AI can support productivity and allow teams to focus more time on creative aspects. Still, it remains to be seen how companies, stakeholders, consumers, audiences, and fans will navigate the yet-undiscovered territory of AI advancements.
Slalom contributor: Steven Polster
