How artificial intelligence (AI) is integrated in media and entertainment

• How AI is used in news and journalism

• How AI is used in social media

• How AI is used in streaming services

• Conclusion

“Hey Google, play The Terminator on YouTube.” What a time to be living! Where you can tell a virtual assistant, that is largely dependent on artificial intelligence (AI), to play a movie about hostile AI in a post-apocalyptic future

I think it’s safe to say that we still have a long way to go before we need to worry about that. That is, unless you’re worried about robots that mimic dogs (e.g. 

, 

,

) deliver you food (e.g. 

,

), or ones that actually mimic human functions such as speaking, lifting, walking, running, climbing and jumping (e.g. 

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

,

, etc.). By the way, did anyone catch Tesla’ 

 last night?

It’s quite impressive how far AI technology has come but these robots aren’t super cyborg assassins created by Skynet. Maybe a bit creepy though

We’ve seen a giant lift in content consumption in the past year fueled by the increase of time spent at home caused by the pandemic. I mean, why else would we have watched Tiger King on Netflix?

According to 

, the $2+ trillion industry is on track to grow 6.5% in 2021 and 6.7% in 2022. This is a healthy compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5%, taking industry revenues to $2.6 trillion by 2025.

We’ve all seen AI depicted on screen in media and entertainment, but it’s no wonder that media companies are increasingly relying on advanced technology, like AI, to improve the quality of their content in order to keep their audience engaged.

AI has had a significant impact in the world of journalism and news broadcasting. From machine learning to natural language processing, news outlets use AI to automate tasks to save time, money, and increase efficiency. Here are a few examples:

• Weather predictions — Though it won’t replace traditional techniques, AI can increase the speed and accuracy of predictions. Tech companies like startup

  Climavision

  , have created a high-resolution weather radar and satellite network that combines lower altitude, proprietary data with machine learning and AI technology. This weather data and forecasting tool is used to help predict and prepare for rapidly changing climate conditions to potentially save money, but more importantly, save lives.

• Filtering out fake news — With the rampant spread of disinformation in the media (including

  deepfakes

  ), machine learning algorithms can provide a way to detect misinformation based on writing styles and the manner in which information is shared. “AI tools are great at dealing with high quantities of information at fast speeds but lack the nuanced analysis that a journalist or fact-checker can provide. I see a future where the two work together.” according to Benjamin D. Horne, an assistant professor of Information Sciences at the University of Tennessee. For the time being, AI can help detect and filter anomalies (much faster than humans could) but will still require some fact-checking by journalists to combat fake news.

• Assist in tedious tasks — Newsrooms are already using AI to help organize and find videos and images, transcribe interviews in multiple languages and use of speech recognition for live captions. This can free up time for journalists to work on the more creative aspects of news production, allowing for machines to take on the tedious and repetitive tasks.

It’s no secret that AI is widely used in social media. Facebook uses facial recognition to tag photos and uses automated retargeting to bring up ads for products you may have been recently browsing. Large social media companies like Facebook, Snapchat, and LinkedIn use advanced AI and machine learning for its platforms in order to keep their audience engaged and enhance their experience. Other AI tools include social creation and management which can automatically generate content across different platforms (e.g. 

, 

), provide insights (e.g. 

, 

), and generate hyper-targeted ads (e.g. 

).

Streaming services are no stranger to the power of AI. Leaders such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, and the rising Apple TV+ know that AI technology has had significant impact and influence on its success. Here are a few examples on how AI has enhanced viewer experience:

• Better Recommendations — Streaming services have content recommendation engines that can predict what should be promoted to users by analyzing customer viewing data, search history, rating data, duration, date, devices used, and more. This helps provide a personalized experience using machine learning models such as Netflix’s landing cards for different segments, which is a type of A/B testing. In addition, machine classification algorithms can help improve movie categorization for better search results when using categories rather than titles.

• Improve video quality — AI technology can help predict user streaming and allow for streaming services to know when they need to cache websites on regional application servers for website loading times. Monitoring usage can help predict when the streaming service should increase bandwidth as usage increases. This will allow for a better viewing experience for audiences.

• Added Convenience — As AI technology is integrated into nearly all aspects of our lives, we’ll begin to acknowledge the convenience of tools such as voice recognition. Devices such as Siri, Alexa, or Google Home assistants use speech recognition and Natural Language Processing (NLP). You can then combine such technology with voice commands in order to play specific movies, shows, or music across platforms — skipping the need for a remote. Now that’s convenience!

AI has quickly advanced across many industries (e.g. 

, 

, 

, 

, 

, 

, etc.) and media and entertainment is no exception. There was a time when AI was just a concept you saw on the big screens. Now, AI is creating the concepts and content you see on virtually every screen. I think we can all agree that it has changed our experiences for the better.

Any questions regarding AI/ML? We’re here to chat! Contact us at hello@mage.ai and we can discuss how 

can help you find practical solutions to achieve your goals through AI/ML technology.