TL;DR
- The radical production efficiency of AI is anticipated to have resounding creative implications.
- On the one hand, AI will collapse the traditional content creation industry and conventional creative and technical roles dependent on it.
- On the other, AI will be in the hands of literally anybody, opening new and unforeseen storytelling possibilities that could benefit diverse communities. Who could argue with that sentiment?
Filmmakers and artists are grappling with what AI means and no one can quite decide if it’s a good thing or a bad thing.
There are many apocalyptic scenarios for the film and TV industry, the most extreme of which sees the entire studio system (including even broadcast) collapsing, replaced by AI tools that can perform every function.
Yet this is also depicted as a double-edged sword we should welcome as the ultimate in democratization and infinite storytelling possibility.
This optimistic view appears just that — optimistic verging on the fingers-crossed — as experts look for a silver lining in the inevitable technology change sweeping the industry.
Perhaps we should even be making a dividing line in human history: Before AI and After AI.
As photoreal video and finessed prompt-to-text generation advances, it won’t be long before any movie or TV show, still image, painting, or novel created in the centuries of B-AI history is viewed as an outdated artifact.
More than that, the ability of AI to simulate anything could call into question how any and every work of art to date was crafted.
“We are witnessing the death of creative trust,” says artist, producer and videographer Sam Hamper.
Even “behind the scenes” footage of humans actually crafting a film on set could be called into question. It could be faked, right?
That’s a pretty soul-destroying thought, but let’s have faith that we record and hand down the history of creation so that future generations appreciate the sweat, skills and inspiration and collaboration it took to make, say, Singin’ In The Rain or Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Hamper, however, also points out that our trust in what we see on screen has always been one of suspending disbelief. If someone is shot dead in a TV drama, we already know the actor wasn’t killed in real life.
“From reality TV narratives, to film lighting to special effects snow, you accept it. It’s all just been sorcery happening behind a screen. We have become fully locked into this fake reality,” he says.
“But at least it is human fakery,” Hamper adds, concerned that now even the skills with which humans used tools to “fake” things on screen will be completely taken over by machines.
Then he flips his own argument on its head. He believes (hopes?) that humans will still be essential for the creative process, “at least for now.”
“The one thing I encourage all creatives to think about is not to how to cut ahead of the curve of AI, not how to monetize it or clamber on the bandwagon, but to stop and think how these tools can help tell stories that have not been possible.”
The death of trust “may not be a bad thing,” he says if we can use AI to conjure stories that helps humanity connect with one other and the world around us in ways that have not been possible before.”
Before we call time on the content creation ecosystem, let’s take another perspective. The stock footage industry, for instance, is reckoned by almost every pundit to be virtually wiped out, and soon.
This sector of the industry was predicted to be valued at $7 billion by 2027, according to research firm Arrington. That was in 2022. Since then, market leader Shutterstock has partnered with an AI developer to grow its image library with AI stills and video.
“The underlying business model of an industry that was supposed to near $8 billion in just a few years, is essentially wiped out in the medium term,” says a review of AI’s impact by Synapse.
Think again.
“The idea of going to these sites and purchasing 10 seconds of footage will fade. But high quality data is the only way OpenAI or any competitor will be able to create a usable model. It essentially shifts every B2C stock site to a B2B video supplier. OpenAI may also enlist an army of stock filmmakers to collect certain scenarios that are missing from the model.”
What about VFX? Surely another industry that will be upended by AI. Won’t the $400 billion animation industry dominated by like Disney and Netflix “see massive disruption as the technological moat drops significantly?”
Maybe. Or maybe the money that went to a few (studios) will now be shifted. It stands to reason that one group to gain will be those supplying the underlying tech, thinks Synapse. Not necessarily the AI tool developers, but the makers of computer processors required to power the data crunch. (Could NIVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang become the richest man on the planet?)
The rest of the pie could go to creators hitherto largely cut out of the greatest rewards.
“The industry risks being over reliant on AI video models to serve their customers by making [content] more similar to wrappers than the foundations that help builders create” says Synapse.
“Think of it this way. Rather than an entire team of animators, VFX, lighting specialists and more, an individual with a story to share, we’ll be able to create and distribute a story at high speed and efficient cost. Creation of new worlds in the gaming and VR space will be streamlined and available to the individual creator.”
Others also see this upside in the evisceration of the traditional content creation industry model.
Chris Wells is a content marketer, but his words appear on behalf of Lightworks, the editing system favored by Thelma Schoonmaker, among others.
In an essay written for the Lightworks blog, he endorses the optimistic outcome of AI even as it destroys jobs. Think of it as a phoenix from the flames.
“Aspiring filmmakers will no longer need expensive equipment and large teams to bring their ideas to life. Instead, all that will be needed is an internet connection and an idea to manifest all the rich, cinematic scenes one’s future auteur heart could desire.”
It’s a good thing, if you follow this line of thinking.
“Directors will be able to rapidly turn their visions into footage, learning from results and refining iterative drafts in a fast feedback loop previously impossible in such a visual medium. Entire short films could be brainstormed, drafted, revised, and finalized in days rather than months or years,” Wells continues.
“Filmmakers will also gain the flexibility to experiment with a wide range of styles and narrative directions, unencumbered by the practical constraints of traditional filmmaking. By streamlining the technical aspects of production through AI, Sora will liberate creators to focus purely on their directorial craft.”
What’s more, he contends, with a tool as powerful as AI in the hands of anybody, previous barriers for women, people of color, or disability will fall away. Who could possibly argue with that utopia?
“These instant video creation capabilities could place indie artists and major studios on equal footing like never before,” Wells writes. “Aspiring directors might no longer need to struggle to raise funds or await permission for the ‘right’ location. Their visions could spring to life at their fingertips. Lowering the barriers of entry through technology may lead to an exponential growth of new filmmaking talent from underrepresented communities.
“By making professional filmmaking radically accessible, Sora has the potential to promote empowerment and self-actualization for all.”
You can’t argue with its statement: “Whether we like it or not, we are forcibly standing on the precipice of a new era in technological innovation,” but you might take issue with the hope — for that’s what it is — that humans remain at the center of the creative process.
Lightworks wants to preserve “the human element in the AI Age,” says Wells.
“While Sora promises creators radical new capabilities for magical instantaneous video generation, the essence of videomaking remains profoundly human.”
Perhaps resistance is futile. While AI pushes the boundaries for experimenting with stylistic techniques once deemed practically impossible, “filmmakers must lead in establishing best practices for AI tools to expand creative possibility without overtaking human artistry or ethics.”
