I’ve been following the recent controversy over “The Brutalist,” the Oscar-nominated film directed by Brady Corbet and starring Adrien Brody. Film editor Dávid Jancsó revealed that he trained AI using his own voice to refine actors’ Hungarian pronunciation. This sparked a vigorous debate about whether AI poses a larger threat to Hollywood’s future.
As a COO & Co-founder at Storyby, I am responsible for operations and content at our flagship product DramaShorts, an app that streams bite-sized short series to over 5 million viewers. Also, I’m a big fan of AI. I also understand why production studios fear it might take away jobs. But I don’t believe it’s going to happen any time soon.
In this piece, I’ll explore AI’s role in content creation and why production studios should embrace it rather than resist it.
AI In Scenarios And Post-Production—And Its Business Efficiency
Before the emergence of AI models, we relied only on subtitles and understood that this was not enough for process and cost efficiency. Now, we like to think of AI as our creative co-pilot.
How exactly do we use AI in content creation?
AI helps us develop plot twists, cliffhangers, and hooks. It also does a decent job of developing characters. We use Gemini Creator and Chat GPT 3.0 for that. For example, we can ask Chat GPT to analyze dozens of novels from AlphaNovel, our other app, and develop new short series ideas.
Also, AI can be a great brainstorming co-pilot on how to make a plot more intriguing or spicy based on the enormous data references and samples.
- Content Production & Distribution
AI helps us with proofreading, translation, QA testing, and creative marketing campaigns, as well as video editing. Say, we can ask Chat GPT to analyze the plot of the short series and develop visuals we’ll use for Facebook ads.
How has AI sped up our content production? Dramatically. It used to take my team weeks to decompose a movie, but now they can do it in just 2-3 hours. All our team members, including screenwriters, are well-versed in ChatGPT.
Why AI Still Needs A Human Touch
AI is far from perfect. One key problem is poorly developed models for dubbing. AI works excellently with one sound source, but a total mess begins when two or more are present. AI is confused when three to four people speak simultaneously, or music plays. There are also challenges with accents, pronunciation, and actors’ emotions.
This goes beyond dubbing. We stand behind all the processes, and the team initiates, validates, and finalizes all the AI-supported operations.
How To Use AI In A Creative Process: 3 Tips
Production studios are alert due to AI growth, but it takes mastering the tool to feel confident about the future. Here’s what you can do:
- Understand the business intent
Before tapping into the power of AI, take a moment to answer the following questions:
- What is the desired outcome?
- What do you want to create? For whom?
- Are you going to invest in AI?
- How much time are you willing to spend on AI?
- Do you plan to train your teams to use it?
The clearer understanding you have of what AI can bring you, the more efficacy you will eventually get.
- Don’t expect quick solutions
Simple prompts cannot be beneficial. It took us months to train AI companions to create what we wanted. We constantly refined the prompts, asked questions, and consulted AI specialists to achieve better results. Invest your time in training AI models just as you build relationships with your team members.
AI is here not just to stay: it’s likely to dominate the content creation processes soon. So don’t oppose it; master it. Teach your team members to work with AI tools, and invest your money in Pro subscriptions.
Treat AI as your creative partner, and it will pay off.
What’s Up Next In The Industry
AI short series.
While AI video startups are emerging, AI content is still hard to compare with what human-made productions are capable of. We’ll see what the future brings.
Final Thoughts
Even if AI takes on some creative processes, it still lacks emotional intent, authenticity, and original ideas. It also has certain technical deficiencies, like long-format video creation. Here’s where we, humans, need to step in.
AI can be a leverage of individuals’ creative empowerment.
