Fancy one day seeing new episodes of The Walking Dead being made using artificial intelligence? No, we don’t want it either.
Artificial intelligence, better known as simply AI, is a big issue nowadays. We all know what it is, we all know what a scourge it is on human imagination and creativity… and yet a lot of us use it. You can’t explore the internet nowadays without coming across content made using Generative AI, with ChatGPT being the biggest culprit. Essentially what it does is take prompts by humans, generating answers by mashing up existing content fed into its extensive database. It then vomits out an amalgamation of words and frames.
The results of AI are typically very mixed, but you can usually tell when content has been fed through a model. Images especially have an uncanny weirdness to them.
Despite everything bad about AI, some of the world’s biggest companies are getting behind it. For instance, Amazon is working on a new streaming platform called Showrunner, which allows the end user to generate their own version of an IP. Disney also utilised AI in making the opening sequence to Marvel’s Secret Invasion.
And now, television giant AMC — the network behind such shows as Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead — is showing ambition to jump on the AI bandwagon. Per Deadline, AMC CEO Kristin Dolan believes a push towards AI enhanced projects should be seen as “a technology play,” as opposed to using generative models simply being cheaper and faster. Dolan insists that embracing the relatively new technology helps “to put the best tools in the hands of our creatives.”
In addition, Dan McDermott, the president of entertainment at AMC, assures that all of the company’s efforts in AI would be in compliance with parameters set by guilds. “Generative AI is so good right now, it delivers 4K imagery priced at anywhere from 20% to 40% of what traditional VFX is,” he said. “And we’re not just placing any of these people, either. I want it to be really clear that all of our efforts live clearly and cleanly within the parameters established by all the guilds. We’re committed to the principle that everything we do is the support of the people that make these great shows possible, and we’re literally just giving them tools that will enhance their ability to do the great work they do.”
Of course, right now they’re talking about AI for editing purposes, but this feels like a first step. Where do you draw the line? The implementation of AI in content, from the world’s biggest companies to startups, is present all over the industry. It’s becoming a larger issue as each day passes. How bad is the situation going to get?
