AI, robotic cameras and digital shifts are redefining filmmaking. It’s time to explore whether all crews will adapt, survive or be sidelined in this bold new era of the media industry.
This year’s Media Production & Technology Show (MPTS) featured a range of camera robots and related technologies, particularly in broadcast and live production. Exhibitors showcased robotic camera systems for augmented reality, virtual production and on-set visualisation. A robotic dog and a robot camera mingled with the crowds. There was no indication they were on a mission to break the Three Laws of Robotics introduced by Isaac Asimov in his 1942 short story Runaround. They are widely accepted as science fiction lore and are:
- A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
- A robot must obey the orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
- A robot must protect its own existence, as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.
The robot finds it impossible to obey both the Second Law and the Third Law at the same time, which freezes it in a loop of repetitive behaviour. Substitute “robot” for “technicians” and “the media industry” for “human beings” and ask yourselves: are we being caught in a loop of repetitive behaviour as terms and conditions worsen and pay stagnates?
The film industry has seen great changes since Louis Le Prince’s 1888 two-second Roundhay Garden Scene. 1922 brought The Power of Love, the first 3D movie shown to a commercial audience. The Jazz Singer kicked off “the talkies” in 1927. 3D films were featured in the 1950s in American cinema and later resurged in the 1980s and 1990s driven by IMAX and Disney venues. 3D films became increasingly successful throughout the 2000s, peaking with Avatar in 2009. The shift towards digital film triggered the demise of laboratories and loss of jobs. Digital began in the late 1990s and early 2000s and is now considered the norm, although 35mm, 16mm and Super 16mm are still used by filmmakers for specific creative reasons.
AI in the spotlight
AI is the latest iteration and there’s much discussion among film crews about whether it’s a threat to the industry as we know it, or a new creative tool pushing at the boundaries of storytelling. Freelancers have always been precariats, used to insecurity in work and life through lack of stable employment, regular income and social rights such as sick pay and pensions. If AI is tasked with making an entire film, which it is already capable of doing, wherefore the camera crews and the majority of their colleagues on set?
In order to discuss the implications of AI in relation to the media industry, freelance London-based lighting camera operator Raphael Rosenhagen organised a meeting last April. Professor Branislav Radeljic, an AI governance expert, was the guest speaker at Bectu Camera Branch’s event: Artificial Intelligence in the Film, TV and Media Industry.
The stats are: AI market size is projected to reach US$4,243.72 bn in 2025 and the annual growth rate (CAGR 2025–2030) of 27.67% would result in a market volume of US$826.73 bn by 2030 (www.statista.com). The AI-generated video market is projected to grow at 35% per year, reaching approximately US$14.8 bn by 2030. Seventy per cent of marketing teams are predicted to integrate AI-generated videos into their strategies by 2029. Currently, AI-generated videos account for 40% of video content on major social media platforms (www.zebracat.ai 17/03/2025). AI computer power is doubling approximately every six months. AI capability and knowledge continue to outpace regulations and debate. Four years ago, large language models could barely string a sentence together; now they can pass the Bar and medical exams.
Those of you fortunate enough to be working at Pinewood in April must have had a short-lived moment of elation, thinking the industry was really picking up, since every parking space was taken. The sad truth was that the planned expansion of 1.4M sq. ft had been reduced to 300K sq. ft in order to build a data centre. Several other studios including Blackstone, Hudson Pacific and Wycombe Film Studios have also paused development in favour of data centres (www.bisnow.com).
Professor Branislav Radeljic stated that AI is here to stay and questioned to what extent technology can be regulated. It is enormously expensive in terms of computer power and energy consumption and has already shown its ability to spread disinformation, propaganda and discrimination, thus eroding trust and undermining democracy. How can we tell what is or isn’t fake news? ChatGPT is capable of writing homework, screenplays and scripts, as well as deciding which pictures to use as illustration. It hasn’t fully mastered emotion and speech patterns yet, but surely will. The lack of a standard means of distinguishing what is real and what isn’t leads to copyright issues. Forensic researchers may find The Claim Review Project Fact Checker helpful: https://www.claimreviewproject.com/the-facts-about-claimreview
A national AI strategy came out in 2021 and has yet to be updated. The Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) is a collaborative body formed by the Competition and Markets Authority, the Financial Conduct Authority, the Information Commissioner’s Office and the Office of Communications. It was established to enhance cooperation in regulating online services and digital technologies and aims to ensure a more coherent, co-ordinated and clear regulatory approach to the digital space. It is answerable to the government, the public, academia and research institutes among others. They would be the people to lobby.
As regards benefits to the profit-driven film industry, there were more questions than answers: can AI help develop new skills and train workers? Be helpful in disputes? Is the government’s approach financing unemployment in their own film industry? The jury’s still out.
