Saying that AI was discussed at CES last week is a bit like saying that oxygen was breathed during the giant tech conference. There was simply no way to avoid the topic.
For Hollywood, which has been troubled by the rise of technology over the past two years, the conversation has swung from near-utopian levels of optimism to profound distrust and fear. Generative AI is widely viewed as a force to be reckoned with, as it poses significant ethical, financial and legal challenges, with many in the creative community concerned about job security or the future value of their work. Despite the steps taken and the protections the WGA and SAG-AFTRA received during the dual strikes of 2023, uncertainty remains.
However, it wouldn't be CES without blue skies. Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang delivered his annual keynote on Monday, highlighting how the trillion-dollar tech giant is enabling the design of automated and autonomous vehicles and making leaps in quantum computing. She is also deeply involved in visual effects, animation and virtual production. Wandering across the stage with a smile in his signature black leather jacket, Huang told the 14,000 attendees at Mandalay Bay Arena that Nvidia's Blackwell, “the AI engine, has arrived for PC gamers, developers and creators.” He called it “the most important innovation in computer graphics since we introduced programmable shading 25 years ago.”
Sphere, the stunning new venue located off the Las Vegas Strip, is powered by Nvidia technology and hosted another keynote that had attendees envisioning a better tomorrow: a dazzling presentation from Delta. It highlighted the airline's 100 years of flying history and also featured a surprise appearance by seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady.
However, along with those vivid glimpses of AI's potential have come plenty of real-world concerns. Many in attendance seemed to be holding both versions in their heads at the same time. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, national executive director and chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, spoke for many when he described AI during a CES panel as “a tool as well as an existential threat.”
Many top film directors, including James Cameron and Jon Favreau, view AI as “a tool that, as long as they were the ones controlling it, was a creative tool to enhance filmmaking,” said Russell Hollander, executive director of the DGA. During a panel discussion at the Business Innovation and Technology Summit, held in Las Vegas during CES. Recalling the environment before unions won concessions from studios and broadcast companies, he continued, “They weren't looking at it the same way the studios were looking at it. They weren't looking at it to cut jobs or save money. They were looking at it as a creative tool.”
Moya McTeer, an astrophysicist and folklorist who is also a senior adviser to the Human Art Campaign, agreed with the potential of artificial intelligence. As a creative writer and scientist, she uses machine learning in her research. “What I call executive AI is going to be really useful for the creative community — things like making sure your tour is very effective and where your marketing strategy needs to be,” she said in a panel discussion titled “Artificial Intelligence and the Creative Rights Crisis.” Counterfeiting, Ethics and the Law. On the other hand, She continued, “I think the generative aspect of AI is quite a negative for the creative community. The negatives here outweigh the positives, as it's going to be hard to find good music, and it's going to be hard to break through the noise of all the AI-generated stuff.
Crabtree-Ireland spoke at the LIT Summit and also on a “Crisis” panel including McTier and four other AI experts. He shared his own experience when he was the subject of a fake video during the high-stakes period when his union's contract with AMPTP was being negotiated. “We have to do something here,” he said. “We are currently in the sixth month of our strike against all the major video game companies in this country because they refuse to agree to the same basic digital certification protections” that others enjoy.
“If we don't make sure that the industry is moving on the right track in terms of implementing AI tools in general and generative AI in particular, it could pose a very real and disruptive threat to the role of creative talent and creative people in the world,” Crabtree-Ireland added. “I don’t think any of us want to.” In seeing a culture that depends on the outputs of algorithms.”
Chad Hamel, principal in the Los Angeles office of the McCall Smith law firm, believes a legal battle must be fought, in addition to gains secured by unions or, perhaps, new government legislation. “Find a brave musical artist, a brave actor, a brave human being to take action in court to get an injunction, to get a speed bump” that prevents technology from moving forward without guardrails.
“Can I respond to that? This is a difficult issue,” interjected Lisa Oratz, senior counsel at Perkins Coie, a Seattle-based law firm whose clients include Google, Microsoft, Intel, Meta, and Amazon. “This is a difficult issue. There are pros and cons. I think this Quite a positive thing and I think on the creative side for creatives, it's a tool that helps you do things that you couldn't do before… Now, yeah, there are employment issues, there's a lot of issues going around that, but I think that's a positive thing completely “And we just need to figure out how to strike that balance so we don't throw away that balance of good with bad and I think we'll get there. I'm optimistic but I think we'll get there.”
Some of the anxiety about AI is reminiscent of previous unease about other technologies, said Richard Keres, a former Lucasfilm and Apple executive who now heads Nvidia's media and entertainment division. “It wasn't that long ago that digital video wasn't allowed on the NAB floor because it wasn't considered broadcast quality,” he said, referring to the late 1980s editions of the television broadcast industry's premier conference. . “And after a few years, it's turned around. There's this fear that people have when they look at some new technology. They say, 'Well, this is bad because it's going to take away our jobs.' In reality, it will take away jobs, yes, but it will open up more opportunities.” .
Samira Panah-Bakhtiar, general manager of global media, entertainment, gaming and sports at Amazon Web Services, agreed with Keres, saying that innovations like “sound, color, film or 8mm film, those things were really scary at the time.” Ultimately, “there will always be a place for industry expertise,” she said.
