The Most Exciting Artificial Intelligence Applications in Media (Guest Column)

Artificial intelligence (AI) has generated enormous hype in recent months, but opinions about the real impact of technologies like machine translation, autonomous vehicles, natural language processing, and computer vision vary widely. Optimists envision a world in which "driver" becomes a superfluous word; pessimists worry about the millions of truckers at risk of unemployment. But while often described with the futuristic fancy of Skynet in the "Terminator" movies, AI has very real near-term applications for the entertainment industry. Here are some of the most exciting examples. AI is poised to touch every facet of entertainment, even that most time-honored of parental traditions: reading stories to children before bed.