MIP London Panel Takes Optimistic Stance on AI

A MIP London panel has taken an optimistic stance on artificial intelligence in production.

On Tuesday, Mark Endemaño, partner and managing director at global consultancy firm AlixPartners, presented his company’s findings to fellow industry colleagues and a panel at London’s Savoy Hotel.

The experts were made up of Eline Van Der Velden, CEO/founder of Particle6, Jason Mitchell, founder of The Connected Set and Avi Armoza, CEO of Armoza Formats, who presented a generally enthusiastic look at the use of AI in film, television and wider content sector.

Endemaño referenced case studies including FX’s Emmy Award-winning Shogunwhich used the tech to fill out its battle scenes with “virtual actors,” Netflix documentary Churchill at Warwhere Winston Churchill’s voice was used to read letters and speeches, and the late British TV presenter Michael Parkinson, whose interviews have returned in the form of a podcast, Virtually Parkinsonthanks to AI voice technology.

“Anti-AI sentiment remains strong in the creative community and amongst fans,” Endemaño acknowledged, “the most recent example [being] The Brutalistwhere there was controversy around the use of voice tuning… and Hereticthe end credits produced a disclaimer that no generative AI was used in the film. So we need to think about protecting intellectual property at all costs.”

AI is not going away, he continued, and is not a “fad” like virtual reality, but ethical AI is the way forward. “I think it’s ensuring that we create content that respects IP rights, human creative endeavor, and uses technology to service storytelling, not for the sake of it,” Endemaño said. “Then you can add to that transparency, privacy, accountability and environmental concerns, but essentially [we need] to create frameworks and guidelines that promote the responsible, ethical use of AI.”

Mitchell, whose production company The Connected Set has utilized AI in regards to image generators, video generators, in sizzles using AI generated footage and chatbots that help with writing. “We’re definitely not using them in live productions, because, frankly, broadcasters just freak out if you want to include it in a production at the moment,” he admitted.

Van Der Velden attempted to quash the notion that the introduction of artificial intelligence should come at the expense of human input. “We’re starting to generate short films completely with AI,” she began. “Everything from synthetic humans — we’re talking drama series’ completely in AI. What people underestimate is the creative process of that. You are heavily involved as a human when you’re creating ideas with AI. You have to be super, super involved.”

While Mitchell agreed and added that the use of AI is not about cutting back on staff in production, Armoza said: “If you’re looking at writing rooms with fifteen people, [with AI] you can only use two or three. I think we shouldn’t be blind to it. It will eventually be a profession that we need less [people].”

Mitchell replied, discussing about his company’s Snapchat channel: “We used to produce three episodes a week. Using AI, we could produce three episodes a day. As a result, we publish 15 clips a week, which means our revenue goes up by a factor of five, but still with the same people. I think there’s almost an infinite amount of content we can put out there.”

The inaugural MIP London runs Feb. 23-27.