🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Debates about the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Hollywood did not end with the resolution of last year's SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes. They're as fierce as ever. As someone who has one foot in entertainment and one foot in technology, I've heard AI described as everything from a harbinger of creative death to the midwife of Hollywood's rebirth.
Both sides of the debate have merit. Many feel powerless in the hands of the tech giants behind AI. Even one of the world's most acclaimed actors, Scarlett Johansson, was not safe from Open AI allegedly using her vocal likeness. If she couldn't stop them, how could a newcomer indie filmmaker?
But the question isn't how to stop AI from impacting Hollywood. It's how creators (of all sizes) can understand the technology, leverage it where appropriate, and protect themselves where necessary. Staying ahead of the curve is essential.
Seventeen percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 29 believe AI will create many more jobs, compared with only 3 percent of adults between 45 and 64. Meanwhile, 29 percent of the 45-64 age group believe AI would lead to many fewer jobs, a belief held by just 9 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds. Training in a new technology is even more daunting when you've been in the same career for much of your life. It's clear that older generations worry more about AI, likely because they do not fully understand it.
It might help to frame AI as the next iteration of entertainment technology. When I worked at Vimeo, we heard from people who worried online editing tools would replace videographers. Fear of new technology and its future is nothing new. Movie theaters were scared of video rentals. Cable broadcasters dreaded streaming. Original scene designers feared CGI replacements. None of this stopped the technologies from advancing. But it did prevent many people from seeing the benefits of them.
Unsurprisingly, villainizing AI runs rampant in Hollywood, where the average age of directors is 46 for men and 47 for women. In a 2023 podcast episode, director Justine Bateman describes AI as "introducing massive unemployment." According to Bateman, anyone who subscribes to AI tools will "Go down in the history books as having been the ones that ended the 100-year-old [entertainment business]."
Critics of AI might want you to believe that the technology will replace every writer, actor, director, producer, and more. Their approach to AI is fear-driven, which is logical. However, I'd argue that many creatives have adopted a different mindset. They know AI cannot replace human beings. And while AI will inevitably get better at copying us, it will never be able to replicate our shared experiences. Think about the magic of last summer's pink Barbie phenomenon or the poignancy of Forrest Gump visiting Jenny's grave. AI can't take that away, and no one wants it to.
Don't get me wrong—large language models like ChatGPT and diffusion models pose a real threat to copyrighted material. Blockchain and other ledger technologies offer ownership solutions, but need to be further developed. In the meantime, refusal to use any AI applications at all is reductive. It overlooks how AI tools have already improved the industry.
News flash: AI isn't the only issue "plaguing" Hollywood. Its lack of diversity is well-known but not improving. Only 17 percent of 2023's 250 top-grossing film directors were women, a negligible improvement from 9 percent in 2022. It's not just a gender issue, either. While diverse movies are more successful at the box office, only 17 percent of theatrical directors in 2022 were people of color.
Artificial intelligence applications could help level the playing field and democratize Hollywood. A newly launched platform, Showrunner, promises to be the "Netflix of AI." Showrunner users can create AI-powered episodes of Showrunner's series, complete with writing, production, casting, and cinematography.
While skeptics may label this the "AI takeover" they've been warning about, the industry should celebrate its accessibility. Historically excluded groups will have access to creative and filmmaking tools typically restricted to established producers. Making something attention-grabbing will no longer require an expensive fine arts degree, a grueling unpaid studio internship, and phony nepotism connections. And that's a good thing.
We must give these voices platforms to share their work. Writing them off as AI-adjacent will wipe out hundreds of new, unique stories from the industry. I've heard from several colleagues that some directors will refuse to work with you if you even bring these things up. By fragmenting upstart creators against each other, the people in power stay in power, and those (mis)using AI will keep doing so. A new channel for gatekeeping in the industry certainly won't improve the statistics above.
Getting smart on AI unlocks these benefits and enables powerful collective action. In the art world, a University of Chicago team established the Glaze project, a free online machine-learning tool designed to "confuse" AI and prevent style mimicry. AI models read the "cloaked" art as a completely different art style, preventing them from effectively copying it. This innovative approach was only possible through collaboration between creators and technologists.
Similar collaboration has proved fruitful in the regulatory space. In May, the Illinois State Senate approved a bill enabling artists to take legal action against companies using AI to replicate their work. Its passage came on the coattails of a similar bill passed for artists, which prevents them from being replaced by AI content. Both bills were partly the result of creator lobbying, demonstrating the power of informed collective action against AI's bad actors.
AI isn't going to magically disappear, no matter how much certain people want it to. It's time to take a proactive approach instead of fear-driven reactivity. Disruption is what Hollywood needs right now, and it's up to incumbent directors, creators, and technologists to help it happen.
The entertainment industry's evolution depends on its ability to balance innovation with preservation. Most societal changes are double-edged swords, and it takes time to wield them properly. AI, and whatever emerging tech follows it, should enrich rather than replace human creativity. Hollywood will be better for it.
Andrea Berry is the Head of Business Development at Theta Labs.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
