AI is definitely a part of the creative cycle now. Whatever happens, the entire debate shifts to AI as soon as people can smell something barely resembling it. Although Disney has been clear about its AI stance, Netflix is showing a proper chapter of diplomacy, and that is pissing people off.
Anything vaguely related to AI is enough to make people go nuts, and the recent comments from Netflix’s boss are creating major waves.
For the past year or so, AI has been doing a great job of making people’s lives easier, but when it comes to the threat of taking away jobs, people are absolutely ruthless about it. However, recent comments suggest that although AI might find its place in animation and other aspects of creativity, there is still hope when it comes to writing.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos made a sound point in his recent interviews, “I have more faith in humans than that. I really do. I don’t believe that an AI program is going to write a better screenplay than a great writer or is going to replace a great performance, or that we won’t be able to tell the difference.”
“AI is not going to take your job. The person who uses AI well might take your job.”
He added, “Writers, directors, and editors will use AI as a tool to do their jobs better and to do things more efficiently and more effectively. And in the best case, to put things on screen that would be impossible to do.”
“Think about this gigantic leap from hand-drawn animation to computer-generated animation, and look how many more people animation employs today than it used to,” Sarandos continued. “Remember how everybody fought home video? For several decades, the studios wouldn’t license movies to television. So every advancement in technology in entertainment has been fought and then ultimately has turned out to grow the business. I don’t know that this would be any different.”
Let’s be a bit rational here.
Ted isn’t wrong. Although fans are pissed off about the usage of AI, he is practical in his approach. While the use of AI should be limited in certain aspects, if every studio is using it, you will fall behind if you don’t.
AI certainly makes work more efficient, and the mixture of humans and AI is definitely the future in all industries. Though it will affect humans, a basic knowledge of AI won’t hurt writers and editors.