As the technology grows more robust, artificial intelligence has become front and center in many creative debates: Does AI infringe on intellectual property and copyright laws? What are the ethical boundaries of using AI? Will AI eliminate the need for creatives? We’ll leave the first two questions for another day—right now we want to discuss the role AI has in the creative industry. We’re confident that in its current state, AI is incapable of replacing the human element that creative experts bring to their work.
Artificial intelligence can be utilized in every part of the video production process—from writing scripts in preproduction to generating visuals and audio in postproduction. You’ve likely heard about the newest and most powerful AI programs writing full college essays or content creators using deepfakes of celebrities in their YouTube content without their permission, but more subtle AI has been a part of video production for a long time. This includes technology like image stabilization and denoising that have revolutionized tasks that have traditionally been mundane and painstaking. Additionally, Adobe has its own AI called Sensei that is baked into the software that many in creative industries use daily.
These tools have become so universal that creators might not even realize they’re using AI. For example, the “content aware fill” tool uses machine learning to choose and blend pixels to replace unwanted items in images or footage. Morph cuts are also an impressive bit of AI but they’re not always convincing. With these tools, it’s common for the first result to be rough and imperfect, but with an expert eye and thorough understanding of the tool, creatives can further manipulate the content to make the edit unnoticeable.
In fact, that’s a key characteristic of AI. While it can quickly generate loads of content, it is strictly quantity over quality. The ideas, words, and images can be a jumping-off point for skilled craftspeople to work into great pieces but they can rarely stand on their own. Further, AI has its limitations. While those are constantly expanding, creatives need to use their expertise to see when AI output stops making sense or starts falling into the uncanny valley and adjust as needed.
Most of all, the human element is something that simply cannot—yet—be replicated by artificial intelligence. While AI can do amazing things, it lacks the nuance, wit, strategic thinking, and empathy of humans.
When handling sensitive topics such as recovering from traumatic brain injuries and PTSD, or coming up with an attention-grabbing approach to get a stadium full of people on their feet, you can’t solely rely on artificial intelligence to get the job done right. Only a skilled creative can make decisions that rely on context, increase empathy, and include artistic agency.
There will continue to be a big buzz around AI in the creative space (and honestly, the continued advancements are exciting for video geeks like us), but we’re confident there won’t be an AI revolution just yet. For now, it remains a tool in the belt of all creatives that can impact how we do our jobs, but it can’t replace the uniquely human care and craftsmanship that dedicated writers, directors, and editors bring to every project.