Who is afraid of AI? Not Malayalam film technicians

Even as Artificial Intelligence (AI) has made giant leaps across the globe, it is still at a nascent stage in the film industry. Celebrated music composer Jakes Bejoy, who attended a panel discussion at Manoramaonline's Techspectations on 'Creativity and Authenticity in Entertainment: Thriving in the Age of AI' along with a group of other panellists, said AI has only been able to imitate existing works of music and the end results are hardly convincing.

"AI has only been able to morph what already exists. It has not been able to recreate anything convincing in music till now. The present AI tools are only trained on Western music and is yet to penetrate in the Indian classical music scenario. We will have to wait and see what happens in the future," he said.
Johny Lukose, News Director, Manorama News, moderated the session.

Jakes, however, did admit that it will be difficult to navigate through the risks posed by Artificial Intelligence, given that the end result is meant to satisfy and delight people. "If people enjoy a song or the music, that is the end result. The enjoyability aspect is what counts and that is a tricky space to navigate," he said.

'Aattam' actor Zarin Shihab spoke about the challenges posed by AI for artists, but said AI tools won't be able to completely replace human presence in movies. "There is a lot of interaction happening within film sets. It is all about give and take and I am not entirely sure that AI will be able to portray the emotions of the artists," she said. She, however, maintained that it is important to seek permission from artists prior to using their images for AI-related purposes. "The artist should also be informed where and how their faces are being used. Else, it amounts to ethical violation," she said.

Cinematographer Shaji Kumar, who worked in several movies, said AI still does not pose a threat to cinematographers, but said he is not one to shy away from adapting to the ever-evolving technology. "We need to change constantly and if AI has made its presence known, we need to adapt to it," he said.
'Rekhachithram' editor Shameer Muhammed spoke about the wonders of AI and how it had helped them in their movie.