The rise of advanced artificial intelligence (AI) has sent shockwaves through the entertainment industry, prompting heated debates about its potential impact on creative jobs.
At the center of this discussion is Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who has weighed in with a measured perspective.
TLDR
- Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos believes AI will not replace great human writers, actors, and directors in the entertainment industry.
- Sarandos compares the impact of AI to past technological advances like home video, which were initially resisted but ultimately grew the business.
- Some in Hollywood, like filmmaker Tyler Perry, are deeply concerned about AI potentially costing many jobs, leading Perry to halt an $800 million studio expansion.
- The threat of AI was a major issue in the 2023 strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA).
- While acknowledging AI’s potential, Sarandos believes humans who use AI well may gain advantages, rather than AI fully replacing creative professionals.
Sarandos firmly believes that AI will not replace the talents of great human writers, actors, and directors anytime soon.
“I don’t believe that an AI program is going to write a better screenplay than a great writer, or is going to replace a great performance, or that we won’t be able to tell the difference,” he stated in an interview with The New York Times.
The Netflix executive draws parallels between AI and past technological advancements in the industry, such as the introduction of home video.
Initially met with resistance from studios, these innovations ultimately contributed to the growth of the business. Sarandos suggests that AI’s impact may follow a similar trajectory, with initial concerns giving way to successful integration and growth.
However, not everyone in Hollywood shares Sarandos’ optimism. Filmmaker Tyler Perry, for instance, has expressed deep concerns about AI’s potential to displace human workers.
So much so that he has indefinitely halted an $800 million expansion of his studio due to the release of OpenAI’s text-to-video model, Sora.
Perry fears that “actors, editors, sound specialists, and transporters” could lose their jobs to this technology.
The threat of AI was a central issue in the 2023 strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA).
Members of these unions feared that cost-conscious studios might use AI to replace writers and actors, undermining their livelihoods.
The strikes, which lasted several months, ultimately resulted in agreements between the unions and studio owners, but concerns about AI’s impact remain.
While acknowledging AI’s potential, Sarandos believes that it is the humans who use AI effectively, rather than the technology itself, that may gain a competitive advantage.
“AI is not going to take your job. The person who uses AI well might take your job,” he stated.
Sarandos envisions AI as a tool to enhance creativity and efficiency in the entertainment industry, much like the transition from hand-drawn to computer-generated animation, which ultimately led to more employment opportunities in the field.
