Artificial intelligence enters the world of cinema

Netflix, the big OTT streamer, has acquired award-winning Hollywood actor-director Ben Aflleck’s InterPositive, set up in 2022, which will enable film production processes with the use of AI technology. The terms of the deal are not disclosed. Affleck is likely or join Netflix as an adviser.

Both Affleck’s company and Netflix declared their adherence that AI will be used without replacing the creative writers and other works in the making of movies. Netflix’s Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria said, “We believe new tools should expand creative freedom, not constrain it or replace the work of writers, directors, actors, and crews.”

Affleck said of the company to create the necessary AI models for making films: “We also built in restraints to protect creative intent, so the tools are designed for responsible exploration while keeping creative decisions in the hands of artists.”

It is apparent that Netflix and Affleck are aware of the dilemma that movie-makers face in the wake of AI. The general perception that AI will replace human element is very strong, and two years ago screenwriters in Hollywood had gone on strike to protect the intellectual property rights of the writers, and that what they write and create should not be fed to AI programmes for expansion and modification. Hollywood actors’ guild had joined the protest. The studio-owners maintained an ambiguous stance.

The fact that a reputed actor like Affleck should have set up a company to use AI for making movies shows that there is a recognition all around that AI cannot be avoided, and that film-makers cannot insulate their work from AI. Even as computer generated images (CGI) and special effects are now generated on the computers it has broken the frontier between the process of creativity and the human creators.

It was inevitable that AI would penetrate further in the entertainment industry. It has been that CGI is in the hands of the creative technicians, who in turn follow the instructions indicated by the story-writer and director. You need accomplished technician artists to translate the creative ideas into CGIs and other special effects. Netflix and artists-turned-entrepreneurs like Affleck are assuring that this is indeed how AI will remain in the hands of story-writers and directors.

The acquisition of Affleck’s InterPositive comes as a good deal for Netflix after it had failed to acquire Warner Brothers Discovery in the face of competitive bidding by Paramount Skydance. But the two deals, one a failed one, cannot be compared. The bid to get Warner Bros Discovery was to get the huge library of films produced by the studio for over a century, which would have widened and deepened the content base of Netflix. That it could not succeed is part of the market game. Netflix can only wait for a better opportunity.

Meanwhile, Netflix’s acquisition of InterPositive will strengthen the capabilities of Netflix production of content. These are indeed two different things. So, Netflix getting InterPositive is not a consolation prize for missing out on Warner Bros Discovery. Also, Netflix would still have acquired InterPositive because it is a necessary asset content creation in the future. And the AI tools of InterPositive could also have been used to make use of the library of Warner Bros Discovery.

That AI is making strong inroads into the entertainment industry is more than evident now. Last year Disney had allowed Open AI to use images from its Star Wars, Pixar and Marvel franchises for its Sora AI video generator. On the face of it, this is a revenue generator for Disney. But it also throws up the possibilities of how AI can be used to make use of content and images of films that had already been made. Like it or not, AI is spreading fast and furious in the movie world.