Anyone who’s anyone can see that artificial intelligence (AI) is the next big thing in pretty much every industry across the world. And, as with most big fads, celebrities are lining up to either be on the ground floor of the AI train or jumping off the rails entirely.
The mixed reviews to AI among celebrities can be put down to the potential for AI to overtake or even entirely replace traditional celebrity roles. AI has the ability to do a whole range of unique tasks and many celebrities may feel like they’re watching their own redundancy package come in.
So how is AI affecting Hollywood now and what are our predictions for what will happen in the next few years?
Replacing Writers
Many creatives in Hollywood are feeling nervous about AI because it has the potential to replace several of the key tasks that they do in their jobs. For example, writers are often opposed to AI because it can write entire screenplays, rewrite key scenes or add dialogue, and create prose at a simple command.
Currently, there are several iterations of AI that are already able to “replace” human writers. These AI tools are able to create many forms of media from short-form scenes full of punchy dialogue to long soliloquies with dramatic pauses. However, these AI tools have yet to completely replace the writing room because they’re often unpolished and can feel janky or missing that human touch.
With advances in AI technology being made all the time, it’s expected that these AI-generated stories will begin to become much more common in our entertainment industry. This has the potential to cause an entire industry of people to lose out on revenue.
Replacing Images
Generative AI already exists with the capacity to create novel images. In fact, there are a variety of AI sources that can do anything from create a still image from a library of given photos to sourcing online material to create novel videos.
For most people, these AI tools are very helpful. For hopefuls just starting out in Hollywood, they can be an amazing tool and can reduce the prohibitive cost of things like high profile photoshoots. For example, AI headshot generators like Portrait Pal and PixelPose can create good quality headshots for a low price, and headshots are essential in some of the main industries in Hollywood (like acting).
These images have the capacity to be either helpful or harmful to bigshot Hollywood celebrities. Some celebrities have chosen to endorse AI and allowed their images to be used for a variety of purposes, like creating ads. This benefits the celebrity and the ad agency since the former doesn’t need to be on location for the shoot and the latter doesn’t need to pay full price for hiring the celebrity.
However, as with anything else on the internet, the morality of the technology really comes down to how you use it. Unfortunately, many people have also used these AI technologies to create potentially harmful videos of celebrities doing things they would never actually do.
Replacing Voices
In more recent advancements, AI technology has developed the capacity to mimic voices when given enough source material. For most people, this isn’t a concern. But for celebrities, who have their voices readily available and on the internet, this can create some large issues.
Generative AI now has the ability to create a fake video of almost any celebrity doing whatever they want. Coupled with the ability to write new words, and create new images, this makes it almost impossible to tell a fake video from a real one.
Understandably, people in Hollywood are concerned, with various celebrities speaking out about the potential legal complications from having their voice used without their consent. And given that AI has a tendency to lack rigorous fact checking, this can cause issues of defamation, with several high profile cases already being in the public eye.
Voice actors are in an entirely difficult position, with their whole careers threatened by the invention of AI voice mimicry. This is because traditionally, when voice actors sign a contract they state that their voice can be used by the studio in perpetuity, without the studio needing their permission for the things they have been recorded to say.
The issue that arises with generative voice AI tools is that studios now have the ability to take the clips of the voice actor’s recorded voice and put them into an AI generative voice mimicry tool. This means that the studio is then able to create any recording they want with the voice without needing to pay the original artist anything at all.
Positive Collaborations
Although much of Hollywood seems to regard AI as an invasive pest coming to take away work, there are a few celebrities who have been more positive about the potential uses of AI in their work.
For example, will.I.am shared his belief that ChatGPT would be a “great co-pilot for creatives” and help push artists beyond their usual abilities. This take shows that, for at least some in Hollywood, the push towards accepting AI has shown interesting ways of innovating the creative process.
Future Directions
It is impossible to predict exactly what will happen with AI in the future, but from the general trends being seen in Hollywood now, it looks like there will likely be an overall acceptance of AI from large studios and key shareholders in the entertainment industry.
What this means for the creatives and artists of the industry (big and small alike), remains to be seen. As with any new technology, there are many teething troubles with AI. The main issues stem from a lack of culpability in the potential for copyright infringement and the potential to run entire industries dry of revenue.
The next few years will prove to be a battleground with artists and creatives fighting for their rights to their work while shareholders and studios vie for the ability to work more efficiently and with less cost.