Can you give us an overview of what technologies are already prevalent in the industry and how are they used across the production spaces.
I guess the first thing to say is that things are moving so fast that anything I tell you will be out of date by tomorrow because it is such a fast-moving technology at the moment.
There are many different options out there and we've seen Gemini pop up and that was preceded by BARD. So there's all sorts of language based models. Other examples of the generative AI applications and tools are Midjourney, I think TV development in particular has seen the use of Midjourney to create images for pitch decks at development stage, helping to give a visual representation of what a writer or a producer is imagining for a particular show. It enables artists to better express what it is that they're envisioning by providing a piece of previous material. What’s probably even more impactful for the industry is we've started to see video generation tools. Runway was a front runner and we've seen OpenAI's Sora appear and Google's VO2. And these are all examples of AI tools that can generate the moving image.
There have been ‘controversies’ surrounding recent productions’ use of AI. Does some of that come from a lack of transparency about its use and will there be more openness in the future?
One of the issues of course here is that an individual can use an AI tool and then distribute something they've created using that tool. And the question comes up as to who has responsibility for declaring the use of AI and is there an onus for them to do so? My view is that it's very difficult to differentiate between the different levels of application of AI. For example, somebody could have used chat GPT to take some creative ideas and formulate them into a really good and much more succinct pitch deck, for example, a development stage that is very different to using significant AI tool in the production of what you see in kind of final pixel when it goes to the audience.
Similarly, it's different to use an AI tool in the post-production process or even in the distribution process. And I think we haven't yet found the language of expressing this to people who are consuming images and videos and other such content. I include audio in all of this as well.
This harks back to conversations I frequently have around human-centred approaches, creative first, and the ethics of our deployment of AI. I think transparency, you're right, is the key. And it's about us finding ways as a set of creative industries globally of communicating to those who are consuming the kind of products that we're putting out into the world.
I think the only other thing to say is there comes a point where we've got to understand is where are the gatekeepers of this information? Is it the platform's responsibility to declare? Is it the producer's responsibility to care of the production companies? Or is it the individual? And I suspect it's a mixture of all of those different levels. And that in modelling good practice, we might create change in the most difficult places to do so.
Some of these conversations tap into a wider fear of AI coming for your jobs. What thoughts do you have about how the workforce can adapt and work alongside AI in the future?
Yes, a really important question and the idea of AI coming for our jobs. I think what AI is coming for is the way in which our jobs have operated in the past. And what's tricky is that in particular, when you look at film and TV, the pipelines of production and post-production are quite clear and those conventions have existed for a long time and enabled us to build a whole industry that understands the flow and the dynamics of production. And this might disrupt that. I think the idea of AI fully coming for our jobs is slightly wrong-headed. I think it is coming for the scale of the budget we might be able to work with, the nature of the kind of tasks within our jobs. Because I think the most frequent thing I hear in this emergent, innovative little sector is that it's not AI itself. It's somebody who knows how to use AI. That's the person that might come for your job. It's somebody who knows how to work with the AI. So this notion of how can we work alongside it is really important.
One of the best ways to be that person is of course, to become familiar with the speed of change in AI and becoming comfortable and able to exercise your resilience and adaptability, your flexibility in working alongside the constantly emerging new tools. So one side of it is our flexibility. And I think the good news for freelancers who have a particularly hard time in the industry is that that is what our entire existence is, is constant change and uncertainty, dare I say it, precarity. And I think that is likely to continue, but we've got good at working within those slightly uncomfortable conditions and perhaps are most able to pivot quickly in response to the opportunities that AI represents.
How do you think people working in the screen sector can learn or upskill or just become more comfortable with working alongside these technologies?
The easiest way to feel comfortable around the use of AI is to walk towards the fire of what scares you about it and have a go. I do believe in you personally deciding to skill up where you can.
I also think something as simple as joining all the mailing lists that tell you more about these technologies and speaking to other people who seem to know about these technologies. It sounds like a simple thing but being around the jargon and being around people who have become more relaxed at the rate of development in this particular area is a useful thing.
The pace that we're working with here is that within a month a new start-up can emerge from stealth mode and disrupt the entire industry. And that's both frightening and exciting. If you are able to connect with people who have become more able to absorb that rate of change, then it can help you to feel more robust in the way that you make decisions for yourself and for your organisation around the use of AI.