AI is very much in show business and it’ll stick around

Yes, artificial intelligence (AI) was employed to alter the voices of some of this year’s Oscar-nominated films.

- ATANU BISWAS

Even though AI was used to improve Adrian Brody’s accent when speaking Hungarian in his starring role in The Brutalist, he still won the Academy Award for best actor. And in Jacques Audiard’s transgender gangster musical Emilia Pérez, Karla Sofia Gascon’s singing voice was enhanced using AI cloning. Is this a definite sign of Hollywood embracing AI?

This was noteworthy because AI has long been portrayed as a villain in Hollywood. Wasn't AI a major point of contention in the dual strikes by Hollywood writers and actors just two years ago, which resulted in agreements to guarantee that workers retained control over the new technology rather than having it replace them?

However, these days, AI seems to be omnipresent. It is unavoidably and often controversially making its way into almost every domain of the entertainment industry— video games, TV shows and movies. Here in India, the AI-reimagined epic narrative of Mahabharat for the TV screen has created buzz. A new standard for Indian entertainment may involve tying together technology, advancement, creativity and genres; AI may be the thread here. Reportedly, an AI Ramayana is also being developed. Earlier, in July, Bedard Piya, a generative AI-powered animation series based a popular story by Pratilipi of the same name, debuted on YouTube.

AI has been accused by many of replacing humans in the workforce. But is it also supplanting human creativity? In June,