Our U.S. Media & Entertainment Analyst Benjamin Swinburne
discusses how GenAI is transforming content creation,
distribution and also raising some serious ethical questions.
Read more insights from Morgan Stanley.
----- Transcript -----
Welcome to Thoughts on the Market. I’m Ben Swinburne, Morgan
Stanley’s U.S. Media and Entertainment Analyst. Today – GenAI is
poised to shake up the entertainment business.
It’s Wednesday, July 23, at 10am in New York.
It's never been easier to create art for anyone – with a little
help from GenerativeAI. You can transform photos of yourself or
loved ones in the style of a popular Japanese movie studio or any
era of visual art to your liking. You can create a short movie by
simply typing in a few prompts. Even I can speak to youin several
different languages. I can ask about the weather:
Hvordan er været i dag?
Wie ist das wetter heute?
आज मौसम कैसा है?
In the media and entertainment industry, GenAI is expected to
bring about a seismic shift in how content is made and consumed.
A recent production used AI to de-age actors and recreate the
likeness of a deceased performer—cutting what
used to take hundreds of VFX artists a year
to just a few months with a small team. There are many other
examples of how GenAI is revolutionizing how stories are told,
from scriptwriting and editing to visual effects and
dubbing.
In music, GenAI is helping music labels identify emerging talent
and generate new compositions. GenAI can even create songs using
the voices of long-gone artists – potentially extending revenue
far beyond an artist’s lifetime.
GenAI-driven tools have the potential to reduce TV and film
production costs by 10–30 percent, with animation and
post-production among the biggest savings opportunities. GenAI
could also transform how content reaches audiences.
Recommendation engines can become even more predictive, using
behavioral data to serve up exactly what listeners want—sometimes
before we know what we want.
And there’s more studios can achieve in post production. GenAI
can already dub content in multiple languages, even syncing mouth
movements to match the new dialogue. This makes global
distribution faster, cheaper, and more culturally relevant.
With better engagement comes better monetization. Platforms will
use GenAI to introduce new pricing tiers, targeted advertising,
and personalized superfan content that taps into niche audiences
willing to pay more.
But all this innovation brings up profound ethical
concerns.
First, there’s the issue of consent and copyright. Can GenAI
tools legally use an actor’s name, likeness or voice? Then
there’s the question of authorship. If an AI writes a script or
composes a song, who owns the rights? The creator or the GenAI
model?
Labor unions are understandably worried. In 2023, AI was a major
sticking point in negotiations between Hollywood studios and
writers’ and actors’ guilds. The fear? That AI could replace
human jobs or devalue creative work.
There are also legal battles. Multiple lawsuits are underway over
whether AI models trained on copyrighted material without
permission violate intellectual property laws. The outcomes of
these cases could reshape the entire industry.
But here’s a big question no one can ignore: Will audiences care
if content is AI-generated? Some consumers are fascinated by
AI-created music or visuals, while others crave the emotional
depth and authenticity that comes from human storytelling.
Made-by-humans could become a premium label in itself.
Now, despite GenAI’s rapid rise, not every corner of
entertainment is vulnerable. Live sports, concerts, and theater
remain largely insulated from AI disruption. These experiences
thrive on real-time emotion, unpredictability, and human
connection—things AI can’t replicate. In an AI-saturated world,
the value of live events and sports rights will rise, favoring
owners of sports rights and live platforms.
So where do we go from here?
By and large, we’re entering an era where storytelling is no
longer limited by budget or geography. GenAI is lowering the
barriers to entry, expanding the creative class, and reshaping
the economics of media. The winners in this new landscape will
likely be companies that can scale—platforms with massive user
bases, deep data pools, and the engineering talent to integrate
GenAI seamlessly. But there’s also room for agile newcomers who
can innovate faster than the incumbents and disrupt the
disrupters.
No doubt, as the tools get better, the questions get harder. And
that’s where the real story begins.
Thanks for listening. If you enjoy the show, please leave us a
review wherever you listen and share Thoughts on the Market with
a friend or colleague today.
Kommentare (0)
Melde dich an, um einen Kommentar zu schreiben.