For better or worse, the entertainment industry is embracing generative artificial intelligence. Almost every Hollywood production ever made about AI suggests for worse, but kudos to all the studio execs for their relentless optimism about a technology bound to put human beings out of jobs. For instance, under a new partnership between AMC Networks and AI company Runway, AMC plans to use the tech to “trot out a range of promotional material without the need to spend added time and money trying to capture [images] with a physical shoot,” per The Hollywood Reporter. You used to have to pay artists, models, and marketing professionals for that sort of thing; thankfully AI provides a way to cut out the pesky middlemen otherwise known as “people who rely on this work to make a living.”
AMC Networks (which includes AMC, BBC America, Shudder, Acorn TV, IFC, AMC+ and more) isn’t yet going so far as to say AI will be used to generate images or scripts for its actual shows. However, another proposed use of Runway’s AI model is to pre-visualize concepts before a show is produced, not dissimilar to a storyboard. This method “could help showrunners figure out what would or wouldn’t work on the air without the high cost of shooting the material or designing it from scratch,” according to THR.
“As we explore the transformative potential of AI across our business, we see powerful opportunities to enhance both how we market and how we create,” AMC Networks’ executive vice president of global media operations and technology Stephanie Mitchko said in a statement to the outlet. “Our objective is always to use every tool at our disposal to help our creative partners fully realize the stories they want to tell.”
Runway is one of the leading generative AI companies in Hollywood at the moment, forging notable partnerships with Lionsgate and Harmony Korine’s EDGELRD. (Vulture reports Runway has been “in substantial conversation—or active collaboration—with every major studio in Hollywood.”) “It’s kind of a natural transition for every entertainment and media company; they need to think through what AI means for them,” Runway co-founder Cristóbal Valenzuela told THR in regards to the new AMC partnership. “This is the most important tech of their lifetime—it’s a make-or-break moment.”
