Bollywood is embracing generative AI as a new way to create innovative and ethically sound content.
At Cypher 2023, Amrit Thomas, the chief data officer at Zee Entertainment, shared his insights on how Zee is using generative AI to create new content. He emphasized that Zee is careful to only use content that belongs to them, and that they involve humans in the creative process at all times.
“AI is a new canvas to paint, a platform to write your story,” Thomas said. “That’s why I have an issue with the term ‘fully AI generated’. There will never be a completely AI-generated film; humans will always play a role in the creative process.”
Thomas explained that AI can be used to enhance human creativity and intuition. “What happens in day to day work is I get so bogged down in getting that story out and trying to sell it that I don’t have time for my creativity to do work,” he said. “The role of AI is to allow you as a screenwriter, to really explore your audience and that needs space. AI gives you that space.”
The Rabbit Hole, a brand film agency that produced the ‘Brand Film for the ICC World Cup 2023’, also uses generative AI tools such as Dall-e and Midjourney to enhance its video creation process. The company says that these tools are particularly valuable during the initial stages of storyboarding and pre-visualization.
Biren Ghose, country head, India & global excom member, Technicolor Creative Studios, believes that generative AI will change the way IP works in the future. He says that famous personalities will have an IP for both their digital and physical avatars.
“You may have a manager, managing your physical avatar, and then that person will license your avatar for a particular ad commercial or a movie or for an advertisement,” he said.
Ghose also explained that Technicolor Creative Studios is working to ensure that the use of generative AI is regulated and ethical. He gave an example of a recent commercial for Mastercard where the company used AI-based neural rendering to create a new visual effects method for rendering Messi’s image.
“In this case, we got the necessary permissions from Messi to produce the commercial,” Ghose said.
Bollywood legend Amitabh Bachchan has also partnered with Ikonz Studios to explore generative AI. This venture aims to merge cultural icons and iconic intellectual properties into interactive mediums using AI technology.
The sources for this piece include an article in AnalyticsIndiaMag.