The transition to streaming services has heightened consumer expectations for continuous, high-quality content, while simultaneously testing executive expectations for revenue and profit. The transition to streaming has tightened production timelines and placed increased pressure on studios to produce more content while also adhering to a certain level of quality. Essentially, the entertainment industry is trying to do more with less.
Technological advancements have steadily transformed how the entertainment industry creates and distributes content. From the groundbreaking use of CGI in “Jurassic Park” and “Toy Story” to virtual production and motion capture in the 2000s, to the onset of cloud resources in the 2010s, each innovation helps drive the industry forward.
Today’s transformative technology is artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, which promises a slew of benefits such as enhanced efficiency, reduction in production costs, and the acceleration of time to market. However, these benefits are not without risks, including alienating viewers who express concern about the ethical, economic, and societal implications of the technology.
Consumer perception and use of AI applications
Despite the growing presence of AI in daily life, often leveraged inconspicuously within software that many use, most consumers still have a limited understanding of the technology.
Generative AI chatbots and other applications usually represent the first time that consumers directly and purposefully interact with AI. Parks Associates reports that 36% of US internet households report not using and not being familiar with popular overt generative AI applications such as conversational chatbots or image creators.
Those with a more apprehensive attitude towards AI are likely concerned about its potential misuse to manipulate public opinion, reinforce hurtful biases, to aid in criminal activity, or for any other malicious purpose. In fact, according to Parks Associates research, over 70% of households are concerned about society’s ability to control and use AI responsibly.
While consumers are concerned about the usage of AI technologies, those who have already experimented with AI tend to have a more positive view of the technology. This suggests that as more people become aware of the benefits of AI (and learn of the limitations), acceptance and adoption will likely increase. Parks Associates data finds that the most common inhibitor to using AI is a lack of perceived value and understanding of the technology. While many AI tools are intuitive, there is a learning curve for writing effective prompts that return adequate results.
The use of AI in media
One key use for AI is to allow studios and other content creators to iterate faster so they can work within tighter timelines and move towards a final product more quickly, reducing the cost of production and increasing speed to market. But use of AI in creative spaces is not meant to be autonomous.
AI augments human talents but does not replace them. Properties unique to humans such as humor require a human touch to refine and properly convey meaning. AI is a collaborator that complements human creativity and helps bring projects to the next level.
Within media and entertainment, as well as within other industries, AI applications are well suited for repetitive and time-intensive tasks that permit teams to spend more time on humanistic strengths such as creativity and design. AI can assist content creators by rapidly generating multiple iterations of their work, allowing them to experiment with different styles, formats, and ideas quickly. This iterative process enables creators to refine their content, test different approaches, and receive actionable feedback, ultimately helping them arrive at the most effective and polished final product with greater efficiency and creativity.
Together with human talent, AI accelerates the speed of iteration. AI also allows creators to experiment with more styles, formats, and approaches because productivity is enhanced so greatly. Increasing the iteration process speeds up the entire project, as directors and products provide feedback to creators more quickly, allowing both parties to arrive at a unified vision faster and much more efficiently.
Three examples include writing and editing tools, visual content creation, and video production tools.
Writing and Editing: AI-powered writing tools can suggest alternative phrasing, grammar corrections, and stylistic adjustments.
Visual Content Creation: AI can generate multiple design concepts for visual content, such as graphics, logos, or social media posts.
Video Production: AI can automate aspects of video editing, such as cutting clips, applying filters, and suggesting transitions. A content creator working on a video project can use AI to generate different versions of a video with various editing styles or pacing. This allows the creator to experiment with the narrative flow, visual effects, and overall mood, helping them identify the most compelling version for their audience.
Consumer content demand
The explosion of streaming services, accessibility of media, and portability of video devices has helped drive increased video consumption. Today’s US households watch over 20 hours per week on average of video on a television, which is about five more hours per week compared to 2018. Mobile viewership has also risen with consumers now watching about 10 hours per week of video on mobile phones.
AI can help meet this increased demand for content, but it will be complicated for companies to build and integrate AI into the operational workflow. This requires rethinking and strategizing for the future of video creation and content distribution. Studios and entertainment platforms can leverage AI to analyze vast amounts of data, automate metadata production, optimize recommendations for personalized experiences, and even assist throughout the content creation process.
The incorporation of AI into entertainment workflows and decision-making can drastically enhance project efficiency and accelerate time-to-market for content, thus reducing the total cost of production and increasing the release of revenue-generating content. AI is a natural assistant that can help expedite projects while preserving quality, but it is important to leverage both human talents and this new technology to get the job done, and to bring viewers along in the AI journey transparently, to increase familiarity with AI’s benefits and maintain trust.
Sarah Lee is a research analyst at Parks Associates. Parks Associates is a market research and consulting company and has extensive consumer and industry research on broadband, pay tv, streaming and connected home markets. The international research firm hosts the annual conference Future of Video: The Business of Streaming, in Los Angeles, CA in November 2024.
Industry Voices are opinion columns written by outside contributors—often industry experts or analysts—who are invited to the conversation by StreamTV Insider staff. They do not represent the opinions of StreamTV Insider