AI and the Auteur: Implications of Using Artificial Intelligence in Film Studio Decision-Making

The global movie industry generated over $43 billion in revenue in 2018, of which the United States' contribution alone topped more than $11 billion. Yet, these seemingly impressive headline figures can obscure the fact that year-on-year growth has been a sluggish 2 per cent over the last several years, with market researchers forecasting further stagnation. Given the inherent financial risk involved in film making, some now believe artificial intelligence, rather than human expertise, is best placed to select which films are most likely to provide suitable returns on investment. In early January 2020, Warner Bros signed a deal with Cinelytic, a Los Angeles-based artificial intelligence company which, according to the press release, aims to help content creators make faster, better-informed decisions through predictive analytics. Belgium's ScriptBook provides a similar service, touted as "artificially intelligent script analysis and box office forecasting". Warner Bros is not the first film studio to pair up with an AI platform of this type, although it is one of the first to disclose its collaboration publicly.