The week's developments on the intersection of AI and creative content | 25.06.24

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This week we explore exactly how far gen-AI video has come in the past year, and the controversy around the world's first AI written film script (and how sceptics literally shut down its premiere).

Plus the real reason why creatives aren’t quite as worried about AI anymore, and UMG’s new ‘replacement-tech’ partnership with SoundTech to empower its artists.

— Charlie and the Research and Intelligence Team

PS. You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX AI Summit in London on October 7th here.

Cinema and Industry

📽️ Prince Charles Cinema drops AI-written film after backlash. "The Last Screenwriter," the world's first AI-written feature-length film by Peter Luisi, was set to premiere last week, but was cancelled due to public outcry over the replacement of human writers with AI.

• The Director has spoken out. Luisi stated the film’s intention ‘had been to start a conversation’ and criticised the cinema for cancelling the premiere over a few upset people, “you can never do anything that everyone likes, especially with this subject.”

📹 How far has gen-AI video come in the past year? A year after the viral Wes Anderson ‘Lord of the Rings’ video, tools like Luma’s Dream Machine and Runway’s Gen-3 Alpha have improved tenfold. Despite progress, realistic character portrayal remains a challenge.

🎥 The Matrix x AI tech: Critic Jimmy Simpson revisits the classic on its 25th anniversary, finding that the Matrix remains as relevant and thought-provoking in 2024 as it was in 1999. The film's dystopian view of technology contrasting the techno-optimism of its release era.

🚀 Here’s what Runway’s new Gen-3 can offer: improved speed, fidelity, and fine-grained controls. Despite limitations, like max 10-second footage, it excels at generating expressive human characters and advanced cinematic elements. It will be released to subscribers soon.

📺 Streaming execs think TV’s future looks a lot like its past. As streaming growth slows, industry leaders predict a return to mass-audience content with more ads, higher prices, and fewer prestige shows — making the future of streaming resemble the old cable TV model.

Arts and Entertainment

💰Suno is now paying its most popular creators, after raising $125M in a series B round. The text-to-music platform will launch its ‘Summer of Suno’ program by year-end, which will pay $1 million to the creators of the platform's most popular 500 tracks.

🎨I won an AI image award with a real photo to show we’re not adapting fast enough – then it was my turn to be surprised. Miles Astray won the AI category with his photo "Flamingone". Yet despite its disqualification, organisers appreciated the powerful message. 

🎨Why creatives are becoming less scared of AI: As people experiment with AI they're understanding its limitations, many artists now think it too unreliable to replace human creativity entirely and now see AI more as an augmentation tool than a replacement.

🎤Universal Music Group x SoundLabs. The partnership will provide its artists with AI voice cloning tech, including MicDrop, a real-time vocal plug-in allowing artists to create high-fidelity vocal models. All artists will retain ownership and control over their models.

In case you missed it

Luma Dream Machine is crazy — maybe better than Sora?

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🚀 You are now able to sign up for the super early bird offer (75% off) to the CogX AI Summit in London on October 7th here.