Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has been discussing his views on artificial intelligence and its impact on the media and entertainment industry.
Speaking to the Literally! With Rob Lowe podcast, Sarandos that last summer’s actors and writers strikes led to a feeling within the industry that AI is going to be “the next existential thing”. While Sarandos said he wasn’t sure if that’s true, he does feel the industry needs to be able to have a conversation about the technology.
“I think that AI is a creator’s tool, not a creative tool,” Sarandos told Lowe. “The creators, who learn to use these tools better than anyone else, are going to win. I mean people who create, not companies who create.
“I do think it takes human experience to do things like performance and creative ideas and new takes on things,” he continued. “Those things are all influenced by life experiences. It’s feasible that AI can replicate or imitate those things, but there’s something about the authenticity and the reality of human experience that people see. And they can also see when it’s inauthentic.
“I think people will try to use AI to do shortcuts for the human experience, and the truth is, there is no shortcut.”
Sarandos added that it “would not be good for the business” to have movies and films created by AI.
Asked by Lowe if in a few years from now a viewer could log into Netflix and ask it to create a film based on Saving Private Ryan meets When Harry Met Sally with Brad Pitt, Sarandos admitted there “will be some versions of this”.
“I think people are looking at these things like they’re going to replace storytelling. It’s not, it’s going to enhance storytelling. It might be a new visual language down the road, but in general, I think it’s going to be a tool for storytelling that’s going to make people better storytellers.”
