AI In Entertainment: 19 Practical And Ethical Challenges

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As artificial intelligence increasingly makes its way into the entertainment industry, it equips creators with powerful tools—but it also brings new, sometimes troubling, challenges. Professionals in roles throughout the industry must understand the logistical and ethical issues inherent to leveraging AI for creative work to successfully navigate a changing paradigm.

Below, 19 members of Forbes Technology Council share some of the top challenges the entertainment industry faces in its increasing adoption of (and resistance to) AI. They also discuss the necessary changes and key solutions required to successfully incorporate the benefits of AI while maintaining the supremacy of human innovation and creativity.

1. Integrating AI Into Production Workflows

The top emerging challenge for the industry is integrating AI into production workflows in a way that boosts creativity and efficiency to drive bigger bottom lines. "Owning" your AI workflow involves harnessing content to build increasingly competitive and productive content creation tools that give your creatives superpowers while protecting that investment like the intellectual property crown jewel that it is. - Jamie Lerner, Quantum Corporation

2. A Lack Of Emotional Resonance

Art, whether in the form of music or visual media, is meant to evoke deep emotional responses and convey the unique experiences of the human condition. This emotional resonance is crafted by humans who draw upon their personal perspectives. When generative AI content becomes prevalent, there's a risk that audiences sense a lack of the depth and genuine emotion that comes from real human experiences. - Abhishek Shivanna, Nubank

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3. Diluted Originality And Authorship

While AI in entertainment blends human creativity with machine precision, it risks diluting originality and blurring authorship lines. A hybrid model where AI assists creators can help preserve artistic integrity. Protecting imagination and storytelling in the era of AI requires new intellectual property laws, as well as foundational ethical guidelines for collaboration and transparency. - Vivek Jetley, EXL

4. Repetitive, Stagnant Content

As AI becomes the default content generator, the outputs of AI models will be used to train the very same models. Eventually those models will become biased and produce very similar results over time, thus resulting in a lack of differentiation and stagnation in the generated content. - Gonçalo Ribeiro, YData

5. Maintaining Authenticity

Maintaining authenticity in creative content is a challenge. AI-generated scripts, music or visuals risk feeling impersonal. Entertainment teams can use AI as a collaborative tool, letting it handle data analysis while humans drive creativity. This balance preserves the human touch, ensuring AI enhances rather than replaces artistry. - Shelli Brunswick, SB Global LLC

6. Aligning AI's Potential With Creative Needs

The entertainment industry faces a challenge as tech executives moving into entertainment must align AI's potential with creative needs. To bridge the gap, AI education programs for filmmakers, pilot initiatives and AI governance councils can foster collaboration, align expectations and ensure AI enhances creativity while driving sustainable innovation and returns. - Chaitra Vedullapalli, Women in Cloud

7. Regulating AI Usage

As with every technology, there are positive and negative aspects. Inappropriate usage of AI is going to happen (infringement of IP, creation of deepfakes and so on), but managing the risks of mainstream AI tools should be regulated by government bodies and organizations. Unfortunately, that will take significant upskilling of regulators and legislative bodies to, first of all, understand the risks and, second, effectively manage them. - Gladwin Mendez, The Global Centre for Risk and Innovation

8. 'Filter Bubbles'

A key challenge is AI-driven content personalization, which can create "filter bubbles" and limit the diversity of content recommendations for viewers. While AI optimizes engagement, it may also result in repetitiveness and reduced exposure to new genres. To counter this, the industry should leverage AI to enhance diversity by expanding recommendation algorithms to prioritize novelty alongside user preferences. - Santhosh Vijayabaskar

9. Formulaic Content

One big challenge is maintaining creativity while using AI. As AI handles more tasks, there's a fear that content could feel too formulaic. The fix? Use AI to enhance creativity, not replace it—let humans lead the storytelling! After all, no one wants a rom-com written entirely by a robot … yet. - Evgeny Popov, Verve Group

10. Defining The Concept Of 'Likeness'

Intellectual property, licensing, brand recognition and characterization have become increasingly blurred. In particular, a new question has emerged around the concept of "likeness." This can be addressed by establishing strict boundaries to determine whether the outputs of generative AI are genuinely based on a particular person, creative work or entity. If so, proper permissions or licensing must be acquired. Often, ideas and art are built upon existing foundations, but clear boundaries are essential. - WaiJe Coler, InfoTracer

11. Avoidance Of Creative Risk

AI isn't genuinely creative; it only recreates a representation of known patterns. By taking risks and moving away from the "yet another sequel" or "live-action remake," humans can maintain the advantage. We can try something new that wasn't there before as long as we accept the risk of failure. - Kevin Korte, Univention

12. Playing To Trends

AI-powered predictive analytics may encourage studios to only create content that matches existing successful trends, stifling innovation. A balanced approach that combines predictive insights with bold creative risks can help maintain the industry's originality and foster new types of content. - Mani Padisetti, Emerging Tech Armoury

13. Upskilling Industry Professionals

The entertainment industry faces the challenge of upskilling its workforce to effectively work alongside AI. To address this, companies should invest in comprehensive AI literacy programs for all employees. This includes training for those directly working with AI tools, as well as comprehensive education about the technology's capabilities and limitations for creative and management roles. - Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC

14. The Misuse Of Deepfakes

One challenge is the potential for deepfake misuse, where AI-generated replicas of actors or public figures are created without their consent. This can harm reputations and lead to legal battles over image rights. The industry needs stricter regulations and verification technologies, ensuring that any AI-generated likeness is clearly labeled and authorized by the rightful owners or their estates. - Andres Zunino, ZirconTech

15. Creating High-Fidelity Audio And Video

The more the entertainment industry adopts AI technologies, the more it will be challenged to create audio and video with even higher levels of fidelity; the content shouldn't draw focus to itself. It's likely the phrase "this looks like CGI" will be supplanted by "this looks like AI" if AI prompt engineers don't do their jobs correctly. - Syed Ahmed, Act-On Software

16. The Erosion Of Cultural Diversity

One challenge is the erosion of cultural diversity as AI-generated content becomes prevalent. AI might prioritize patterns lacking cultural nuance, leading to a homogenized entertainment landscape. Addressing this requires integrating diverse datasets and collaborating with creators from varied backgrounds to ensure AI tools amplify, not suppress, cultural richness. - Nicola Sfondrini, PWC

17. Oversaturation Of Content

As AI enables faster production of content, there is a risk of oversaturation, with an overwhelming amount of media released. To address this, curatorial AI systems can help filter and personalize content while maintaining quality standards to avoid diluting the entertainment experience. - Manasi Sharma, Microsoft

18. A Lack Of Clear Legal And Compensation Regulations

Content creators and studios need clear legal frameworks and compensation models for AI-generated content. The immediate solution is establishing transparent policies on AI usage rights, data licensing and revenue sharing with human creators, backed by contracts. Over time, this will shape regulations, reducing ambiguity and establishing AI as a powerful tool rather than an unknown threat. - Adam Ennamli, General Bank of Canada

19. The Displacement Of Human Workers

The entertainment industry is already grappling with AI-generated content displacing workers. While this creates challenges, focusing on how AI can generate new opportunities is key. Rather than resisting change, success lies in actively exploring innovative ways to leverage AI's potential. Like any major transition, the path forward is through adaptation and embracing new possibilities. - Joseph Ours, Centric Consulting