Telly creatives let out a collective sigh of relief as artificial intelligence expert Demis Hassabis ruled out the possibility of computers replacing them any time soon.
“We are a long way from machines being truly creative,” said the founder of machine learning start-up DeepMind Technologies. But, Hassabis warned: “I don’t think it’s impossible.”
AI has arrived but how does the broadcast industry work out what is game-changing and what is a threat to the creativity which defines us? How afraid should we be?
“It can be [anything] from a very simple and specific task being replicated in a simple algorithm to an intelligence system that can take complicated decisions,” explained the Digital TV Group’s Yvonne Thomas. “We see a big advantage to using AI and machine learning technologies in... search and discovery. Increasing the reach of content and making it discoverable is absolutely key [for the] monetisation of content.”
Rich Welsh, SVP for innovation at digital technology outfit Deluxe, who chaired the RTS event, said: “[AI] can be used, like any technology, for good or for bad.”
In late August, RTS London invited a panel of Arrow representatives, chaired by Muki Kulhan, to explain how the factual indie did it.
Production executive Carrie Pennifer explained that lockdown had meant no shooting or access to the edit suite, and everyone working remotely. Post-production manager Kyran Speirs had more than 20 unfinished programmes to deliver.
Will Pitt, head of sport at video management specialists Imagen, was talking at an upbeat joint RTS Archive Group/RTS London event, “Protecting our TV heritage”, in early March.
He was backed by BFI head of conservation Charles Fairall, who noted that the digitisation of TV archive material has made it “instantly accessible”.
Television creatives let out a collective sigh of relief as artificial-intelligence expert Demis Hassabis ruled out the possibility of computers taking their jobs from them any time soon.
“We are a long way from machines being truly creative,” said the co-founder of machine-learning start-up DeepMind Technologies. But, Hassabis warned: “I don’t think it’s impossible.
The founder of Google DeepMind, Demis Hassabis, gave a fascinating lecture to the RTS and IET at the British Museum on 4 November. Watch the full video of the event below or read our report here.
