From Factories to Film Sets, AI Has a Simple Goal

Making things quicker, more efficiently, and for less money is the name of the game.

Making movie magic in a Hollywood film studio has more in common with churning out cars at a Bavarian factory than most of us would like to admit. We see cinema as some creative symphony of sight and sound compared to the mechanical coldness of automobiles. Yet there’s a reason why both industries use the same word: production.

Artificial intelligence is seeping into these businesses for largely the same goal: to boost efficiency and increase productivity. The current actors’ strike in the US has shone a light on the reality of a profession which is at the same time glamorous and brutal. Among the biggest fears is the notion that performers will be replaced by their own avatars — digital twins — which preserve all that is human while rendering the actual person entirely redundant. It’s a valid concern, but likely overblown.