Since our last post we have been busy on a number of fronts with some hopefully majorly fantastic news to come soon! Meanwhile, a lot of things have been moving fast in the industry and the rest of the world so we wanted to do an update and share some of our thoughts.
AI Takeover – Reality vs. Fiction
To anyone promoting the “AI Takeover” Theory, you are effectively saying:
“Netflix Is Going To Fail”!
Netflix is spending Billions of dollars securing long term studio lease agreements as well as expanding their own studios and building whole new ones, signing new major domestic and international production deals, and expanding their operations all around. Netflix is not dropping everything to bow down to AI, so why should we?
Like us, Netflix is researching and even using AI where it makes sense. The progress on AI for image creation and video generation is impressive enough to fill in social media timelines and an occasional Youtube ad but for high-end workflows, it still isn’t there yet to replace entire studios and live action performers. The fact of the matter is, it may never be!
There is a growing negative sentiment building within these AI discussions that shows that not only are many not actually fooled by AI works, they simply don’t like the idea of AI production based on principle. Despite the advances in technology and what they could potentially provide for storytelling, audiences respond to the creative efforts put into film and media with every aspect being examined and scrutinized from the directing, the performances, and even to the craft of the opening and closing credit sequences of a film. Audiences particularly enjoy when technology is used well by artists and performers to blend fantastical visual effects elements into a film to the point that the interaction between physical and digital is seamless, this is the art of film and visual effects and the human effort to craft such visions of fantasy is what audiences appreciate the most.
Without the human element behind the work, some theorize, audiences will have nothing to attach to with Generative AI projects, it just won’t seem real and will ultimately bore and even repulse audiences as with the “Uncanny Valley” effect when 3D animation looks super realistic but not real enough in a subtle subconscious way that disturbs people. In effect, AI projects could look so good that they look fake and phony, effectively going beyond the instances of the “Uncanny Valley” effect and instead becoming the full feature-length personification of it.
As we have seen with 3D Animation with Motion Capture and 3D Scanning technologies, the final results are technically impressive but the question of “fooling audiences” seems to no longer be a consideration and fully 3D animated motion capture films have consistently fallen to the wayside compared to live action films, even if they are based on popular properties such as “Resident Evil”, “Halo”, “Final Fantasy”, or even 3D conversions of Japanese Anime properties. On the point of Anime, within traditional 2D animated shows and films, the use of 3D animated motion capture in the process for certain elements and sequences is often cited as “looking fake” or “being cheap” compared to the traditional 2D animation around it. AI Generated media is facing a similar backlash and it hasn’t even launched for the anticipated professional level of usage it promises.
As a tool, such as the number of plugins and add-on software it is currently making waves in, AI will absolutely thrive and be integral going forward in order to speed up what were once very tedious tasks such as frame-by-frame rotoscoping, physics processing, simulations, and various post-production compositing and color correction tasks. These tools will enable artists to work much more efficiently and to have absolute creative control over the quality of their work and its originality.
Our Experience
Our experiments with AI Generated media has shown that the process isn’t quite as easy as advertised. Recently we had made some AI artwork for our Babs Do Studios – Las Vegas development with Grok AI. The results were nice and workable with some difficulty in displaying “Babs Do Studios” properly on any buildings or, as we ended up doing, a billboard sign over a Las Vegas-themed backdrop with some production work being done in the foreground space or, as we interpret it, our “studio backlot”.
However, no matter what we said to Grok AI, it couldn’t get “Studios” written right, even though it got “Babs Do” perfectly, and the result was often a misspelling or a complete unreadable series of squiggles and shapes, clearly Generative AI can’t handle the mixing of images and graphic design just yet. We decided to try another round to see if it could generate things properly and we ended up with a completely different sign that wasn’t quite right but had a perfect “Studios” element. So, we took both and Photoshopped them together and added the Luxor pyramid and light effect that Grok AI couldn’t quite get right either and we had our final result.
It’s been some time since we made those AI artworks so we recently tried again with the latest versions of Grok AI and Google’s Gemini AI. The problem was that neither of them could generate a film studio image that didn’t look like a mall or an industrial refinery complex. Despite all of the fantastic fantasy and sci-fi imagery, real world subjects seem to be a major sore spot for AI Generated media and we know this because both of the AI softwares would crash and freeze up regularly as we tried to generate workable artworks and we didn’t expect how annoying it was to see the same image being generated repeatedly despite any of the new prompts we gave them. Imagine if we were trying to correct various details in an AI generated video!
For AI to work, the prompt process needs to be far more advanced with intricate details being able to be adjusted, corrected, and locked into place without fail and without the software losing track over however many passes it takes. As it is, the generative AI process is as completely destructive as an artist crumpling up a piece of paper and having to draw everything all over again. Compared to the infinite flexibility of 3D Animation, complete Generative AI is a creative step backwards. However, if both can be combined, that presents an unheard level of creative opportunity and that is what we are wanting to research and work with at Babs Do Studios!
The Copyright Issue
However, the only stopgap to the entire industry is the copyright issue regarding AI training data, including legal complications with likeness reproduction issues such as what Disney has recently admitted to with abandoning efforts with using AI in combination with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson for the upcoming “Moana” live action remake. If the visual and vocal reproduction of actors can’t be safeguarded, let alone any use with copyrighted pre-existing intellectual property, then Generative AI’s takeover of major productions will be severely limited and exclusively based on its ability to generate new properties with what should be a royalty free training base.
Of course, the biggest unanswered question with this entire “AI Takeover” Theory is why is anybody worried when it has been officially declared that “works completely generated by AI cannot be granted copyright protection”? Last time anybody checked, the entertainment industry has done everything it can to prevent works from entering the public domain, so what benefit is there to throw out all the rules and churn out public domain works on a regular basis? Well, the ability to use AI in a film’s post-production process and the arrangement and editing of AI generated sequences into a cohesive movie is the primary determining factor in granting copyright protection. The assurance of “human authored elements” means that films can work, but studios will have to be careful about films that:
Generate story ideas with AI
AND
Generate their scripts with AI
AND
Generate the actual film sequences
AND
Generate the sound and music of the film
AND
Edit the film with AI
AND
Color, upscale, composite, and process the film with AI
AND
Distribute the film with AI (in the works by a few groups)
At the end of the day it becomes a question of how much human involvement was there “really”?
Again, AI as a tool can thrive exponentially but as a single source of film and media production, the reality and evolving legality of its use by the public, businesses, and institutions make the “AI Takeover” Theory nothing more than another example of a media fueled frenzy and social media hysteria. For the time being, choosing what segment of production to use Generative AI will be key and while jobs absolutely will be impacted in these cases, it will mostly be through a new working matter of which departments a studio will require for a given project. Everyone across every department will still be working but it remains to be seen how widespread AI production will become and even if it takes off in a major production capacity to determine its overall impact on jobs across the industry, if any at all. Audiences, of course, will ultimately determine whether it is worth exchanging performance and physical creative effort for keystrokes and clicks.
Studios Closing Down
Since our last update, a number of film studios, VFX houses, and major studio mergers have taken place.
- Paramount and Skydance have now merged so that they are now known as “Paramount, A Skydance Corporation”.
- A number of additional sound stage studios in California, New Mexico, New York, New Jersey, and Georgia have closed up shop and are now for sale.
- Various VFX houses in the US and Internationally have closed up for good.
- Sound stage developments Internationally are being halted or completely canceled.
- As of this writing, news came out that Arri, one of the top leading camera, lighting, and rental providers for the entire entertainment industry, is now considering a company sale due to the downtrend in production business.
A number of factors are being discussed for the reasons behind the production slowdown including changing trends, the “AI Takeover” theory as previously discussed, the state of the economy, outdated state film tax credit programs, international competition for film and media business, and venturing into the tinfoil hat internet rumor mill of USAID secretly propping up many levels of the industry or even a “controlled downfall of Hollywood”.
Regardless of the reasons behind it all, the solution, based on everything we are seeing, is absolutely the Babs Do Studios Infrastructure Plan! The economics of funding movies hasn’t changed, independent films are still being made, legacy studios are slowed but still active, and entrepreneurs abound with ideas for where the industry is headed with their own industry-saving projects, groups, and movements, but there is no cohesion, everyone is out trying to do their own thing and no one has a sound foundation to stand on. Babs Do Studios can be that base foundation to help everybody across the industry, investors should be taking note as along with legacy studios closing down, data center projects are steadily being canceled and delayed, slowing down investment and business in the field, and if AI isn’t going to be a workable investment, Babs Do Studios and its larger goals make for a great alternative!
The End of Everything
Now, with all of this in mind, let’s put all of this “AI Takeover” into perspective. The perception that AI is infinitely capable is simply false. Think about it, if AI was really capable of eliminating jobs, specialties, whole sectors of workers and even businesses, then we would be seeing it used a whole lot more than we currently are and for far more than Generative AI movies!
- Microsoft, Linux, and Apple would be out of business as AI could code an operating system far superior and universally private or public as required by its commercial, industrial, or private use. It could also work on any hardware ever made with software implementations of every security chip and patch to the point that it is completely unhackable and performance would scale based on the power of the hardware it is installed on.
- Videogame Emulation would no longer be a problem, AI could code every game chip, disc, console, and operating system to work with any device by literal 1:1 mapping of the original hardware chipsets. Games that are considered “lost” or “at risk” due to chipset deterioration or literal rot, as some arcade games are suffering from, can be salvaged not only with software reconstruction by individual chips but also by simply emulating the visual appearance of videos and images of the game to incorporate missing segments through AI interpretation. So, if videogames can be adapted and preserved forever, so can software which would mean upgrades will never be needed again so that immediately bankrupts almost every software manufacturer out there, especially the ones dependent on a subscription-based model.
- Just as game and software emulation would no longer be an issue, hardware drivers would no longer be required as AI could simply code devices from a 1:1 mapping in order to simply offer universal compatibility with any designated operating system and base hardware combination. Imagine older graphics cards from the early 2000s still being viable by AI drivers remapping and combining software and hardware acceleration to support all new graphics engines and systems and even making them better than they ever were! Unlike software, this would inspire hardware creators to take the lid off of the “trickle down” aspect of their offerings and double, triple, or even quadruple their hardware’s capabilities virtually overnight without restraint in order to offer customers major advancements to compute with.
- Cybercrime would be gone. Imagine the internet being changed with AI but, going deeper, having AI turn its sights on cybercrime, collapsing all of the criminal networks that run through the internet, tracking every bounced IP and even phone line back to their sources, and a lot of criminals the world over going to jail and faster than any hackers can even think to respond.
- With all hardware known and mapped to be universally capable and usable again, AI could then be utilized to create devices we’ve only ever dreamed of and seen in movies! AI could be used to examine the functions and utility of sci-fi devices from movies and shows such as all generations of “Star Trek” to indicate what can be possible with current manufacturing and what would be required to make such devices work in reality. Better yet, AI would be able to tell us what other inventions and devices we would need to make such sci-fi gadgets and that alone would advance our technological and manufacturing bases all on its own and far quicker than natural means.
- To be more immediately practical, AI should have already been utilized to help innovate energy and water infrastructure to provide new generative power structures or to perfectly refine our current structures to use for new AI datacenters to expand AI development and its capabilities.
The examples could go on and on but the point is that the “AI Takeover” theory is completely muted when faced with the reality of AI’s limitations which could be limited for a very, very long time and that’s without us knowing if it’s all even possible or practical to do.
The most troubling aspect of this entire theory is that it’s also seemingly a part of a movement that appears to literally want everything to end. You can see it in many tech circles but even in social and political discussions there are these people that seem to just want everything to be done and over with and even so far as for the world “to end”. Coincidentally enough, this could be fueled by one person or group utilizing AI chatbots to slowly creep in to social media to spread these posts, theories, and suggestions. While that would be quite sinister and nefarious, whether this sentiment is manufactured or real, it ultimately is just sad.
As storytellers, as builders, as tech entrepreneurs, even on the smallest level, we see opportunity everywhere right now. If you’ve read this far, you can see that AI doesn’t scare us either, we have a practical view of the technology as we have seen many innovations treated the same way time and time again. Logic and reasoning are the strengths that AI will only ever be able to emulate and while we have our own ideas and beliefs for how AI can be shaped into a more advanced level well beyond what we are seeing right now, that’s nothing we could share as it would make for a great movie!
To all of those who believe that AI is the beginning of the end or that the world and everything in it should end, remember that as long as there are stories to be told, as long as there is a desire to create something new, the world and our story will still continue to go on. This is the reason why we want to build Babs Do Studios because despite everything, from our point of view for the world, we see so much greatness yet to be achieved!
On that point…
Studio Update
Babs Do Studios has not been sitting idly by after the unfortunate outcome of the AB238 and SB220 Nevada Film Tax Credit Bills during the end of the 83rd Nevada Legislature in June. On the contrary, Babs Do Studios has been active as ever! If anything, we have made things easier for ourselves with the discovery of two new modular construction suppliers to help design and build our ideal production office complex! While our previous suppliers have solutions that we will still be utilizing, these new suppliers specifically specialize in post-production installations we had been considering for our production offices that we would have had to otherwise custom build. With these easy to install turn-key solutions, it makes designing our production offices and stage facilities a far more streamlined and flexible process than before and even more economical!
By opening up our development to potential additional modular systems, we can take a lot of the guesswork and custom design out of our studio layouts. Even better, the build times line up perfectly with our sound stages so we can still offer our 3 to 6 month building timeline!
Furthermore, we are putting the finishing touches on our design layout for our ideal production office. Meeting the needs of every department and use case for clients was our main focus and we think we’ve come up with a truly excellent office design that everyone will want to work in!
Our Universal Federal Film Tax Credit Bill & Universal Film Tax Credit Bill for Nevada
The bills we have drafted for our state and federal Universal Film Tax Credit Bill are still being developed and worked on and we have submitted our initial drafts to a number of politicians already. The process is unfortunately slow and many things are changing by the day so we are actively looking for additional support as we wait on replies and additional feedback. Some groups are coming together to draft their own versions of a Federal Film Tax Credit bill and even their timeline looks like they have a good deal of road ahead as well, that’s politics for ya! Still, we will continue to keep things updated as we go along with this very important issue!
Conclusion
So, there are a number of things going on and seemingly all at once! With post-production nearing its end on our current feature film and with some very important meetings coming up soon, Babs Do Productions and Babs Do Studios are going to be very busy and active with the hope of bringing new stories and entertainment to audiences everywhere! Until next time… Stay tuned!