Connections

When the world woke up to a huge development in the tech space, OpenAI’s launch of ChatGPT, in late 2022, the news was groundbreaking — and it’s easy to see why.

Although the artificial intelligence (AI) world has been making use of large language models (LLMs) and domain-specific large language models (DSLLMs) for many years, this is the first instance of an LLM being available for mass consumption, as well as mass experimentation.

Despite this surge in conversation surrounding the subject, many organizations and individuals are still trying to discover what this technology can mean for them, especially for those in the media and entertainment industry.

THE BASICS: WHAT IS GENERATIVE AI?

To garner a better understanding of how generative AI can be used in film, broadcast, and sports, it’s important to have a solid grasp of what generative AI is and entails.

In an article published by AdWeek, Veritone describes generative AI as “a category of AI models that generate new outputs based on the data on which they have been trained.

It uses a type of deep learning called generative adversarial networks (GAN) and has a wide range of applications, including creating images, text, and audio.”

Meanwhile, ChatGPT is “a conversational application built on a certain type of generative AI model, called a large language model.”

While a technical understanding of generative AI serves as a solid foundation, applying it is something that is still very much in the air — especially for those in creative fields who are not sure of whether to reject or welcome it.

For the media and entertainment industry, generative AI shows promise for content creation, advertising, and accessibility.

As early adopters of AI, the media and entertainment industry has already seen increased efficiency, improved user experiences and reduced costs.

Now, these companies must continue to define their partnership between artificial intelligence and human ingenuity.

With generative AI, the industry can explore creative and technological capabilities that could only be real in science fiction — all while remaining in the driver’s seat.

HOW GENERATIVE AI CAN ACCELERATE CREATIVITY IN MEDIA AND ENTERTAINMENT

The media and entertainment industry has always adopted new technologies early on, especially in enhancing audience experiences, streamlining production, and tapping into previously unexplored revenue opportunities.

In recent years, the potential of AI and generative AI for media and entertainment has undergone greater exploration, presenting opportunities for content creators, talent, advertisers, producers, and everyone in between to utilize AI-based technologies that can automate various tasks in real-time.

Generative AI is providing new ways of approaching creativity, enabling those in media and entertainment to expand the scope of what’s possible, including the volume of content creation, maximizing revenue streams and more.

In the same Adweek article, Veritone explains that “this provides extensive opportunities to enable net-new, predictive AI-generated content that brands can leverage for greater audience engagement, enhanced human experiences and communications, and the introduction of new revenue opportunities.”

With generative AI’s assistance, media and entertainment organizations can use specific, new content and data extension to a previously impossible scale that goes beyond human capabilities — all without removing humans from the equation.

Generative AI can help those in various fields in the industry do the following:

Film and TV:
* Create assets for a long-awaited new season of a TV show.
* Produce custom voiceovers and trailers for an upcoming film.
* Build assets in multiple languages to reach global audiences more effectively.

Broadcasting and sports:
* Enable LLMs for content creators and rights holders that audience members can interact with.
* Deliver AI-generated text or voice in real time.
* Personalize content for fans and audiences at scale.

While all these automation opportunities are exciting and impressive, they won’t remove media and entertainment employees from the process.

Creatives and marketers will still need to be involved.

But rather than starting from a blank page, generative AI acts as a catalyst for content creation that is on-brand, scalable and more accessible across languages and formats.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

The tech industry is always evolving, and with the actual application of generative AI, the industry can now achieve more than ever before, on and off the screen.

Generative AI is helping creatives in TV, film, sports, and broadcasting accomplish truly remarkable things — some capabilities approach what we’ve seen in our favorite sci-fi shows and films.

But instead of a plot device, generative AI shows promise for real-world applications as a tool with marketability, commercial appeal, revenue potential and the power to propel untapped creativity.

* By Sean King, SVP, GM, SVP, Commercial Enterprise, Veritone *

=============================================

Click here to download the complete .PDF version of this article
Click here to download the entire Winter 2022 M&E Journal