About a quarter (26%) of adults said AI-written TV shows will have a positive impact on the industry, per the Morning Consult survey, which was conducted earlier this month. Millennials, at 40%, were much more positive about the technology’s impact than was the general population.
Kaaveh Shoamanesh, CEO of technology platform Plaiced, which uses an AI algorithm to help advertisers reach online communities, said the immediate reaction he receives from writers and directors about AI is concerns about their livelihood.
“They can’t get off the fact that they would be threatened to use AI as an assistant,” Shoamanesh said. “Because they think eventually, it will gain enough traction to replace them and are weary that it would reduce their salary or make them disposable.”
The legal implications of using AI to produce content will likely be tricky for companies to navigate. Shoamanesh said studios that want to consider using AI to write a script might have to deal with allegations of plagiarism, for instance, since there is the possibility of the technology pulling from existing works that already have rights.
“If someone else can prove [plagiarism], there's no way of them knowing until it comes out how many laws might have allegedly been broken,” he said.
Tim Friedlander, president of the National Association of Voice Actors (NAVA) and an actor whose voice credits include “One Punch Man” and “The Minions of Midas,” said his main concern is tech companies’ training AI to use actors’ voices without proper compensation or without permission, which are in some contracts.
“Voice actors get paid off licensing our voice,” Friedlander said. “If somebody has our voice, and they can just use it for free, then that puts us out of business.”
He said NAVA's goal is to help educate actors on the technology. The group wrote guidelines on identifying the risks of AI technology and creating contract clauses that protect members from it.
“We're not anti-technology, we're not anti-AI — we're pro-voice actor,” Friedlander said. “We want to have the ability to work in this medium and help this technology grow, but not at the expense of artists, which is what it feels like.”
Rudy Gaskins, co-founder, chairman and CEO of the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, echoed Friedlander’s concerns, saying he’s working on how his organization can address AI through panel discussions and by inviting professionals to speak at their events.
“It's the only way to stay aware of what’s going on and to prepare for it, because AI is here,” Gaskins said. “It’s going to evolve. It’s going to be a force, and we’ll have to adapt to it.”
Brandon Jarratt, executive board member of the Animation Guild and a technical director at Walt Disney Animated Studios who worked on films like “Moana” and “Encanto,” said the guild recently launched an AI Task Force.
“Members have expressed concern about the future impact of AI on the animation industry,” Jarratt said. “The board has a responsibility to investigate how to protect the membership from the potential negative effects of automation and explore the ethical implications and potential drawbacks of using these techniques.”
The task force will have its first meeting in May, with plans to meet regularly throughout the next six months, he said.
The potential of AI moviemaking
Others are trying to figure out how AI can improve their work. Director and producer Jim Morrison IV, who uses AI for previsualization, storyboards and pitch decks in his projects, said the technology could be particularly helpful on independent films, which aren’t backed by major production companies and might not have the funds for human storyboard or concept artists.
“If a creative is able to figure out a way to use AI as a tool rather than as competition, they’re going to be much more successful,” Morrison IV said.
ncG1vNJzZmiooqR7rrvRp6Cnn5Oku7TBy61lnKedZMGzsc2dZKydpKmys7%2BOmqBmnpmhurR50pypoqikqHq3u8icnGaZk6m2r7OMoaalpKmsvLCw