From Planning to Broadcasting: Designing the Future of Broadcasting with AI
AI Adopted in One Out of Ten Content Pieces, Utilization Expands
Operating Specialized Teams and In-House Development... Becoming a Core Asset
The use of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the broadcasting industry is rapidly expanding. AI is being utilized throughout the entire production process, including planning and service, and is transforming the industry's paradigm.
The utilization of AI technology in the broadcasting industry continues to increase. [Photo by ChatGPT Image]
This is the result of accelerating technology adoption following visible achievements over the past two years. According to the Korea Communications Agency (KCA), one out of every ten pieces of content broadcast by broadcasters in 2023 incorporated AI technology at the planning and production stages. Additionally, 0.7 out of ten pieces of content utilized AI at the service stage.
Representative examples include KBS's "Secret of Birth, Aging, Sickness and Death (Virtual Studio)," JTBC's "Real Live (Digital Twin)," and SBS's "Kick a Goal (AI Editing)." These cases have demonstrated effectiveness in various areas, such as reducing production time, cutting costs, customizing content for viewers, diversifying content, and strengthening the technological image of broadcasters.
To improve work efficiency, KBS has declared this year as the "first year of AI broadcasting." The company is actively leveraging AI technology to enhance both program creativity and organizational efficiency. In the first half of the year, KBS produced "Legendary Hometown" as an animation using generative AI, and added automatic recognition features for incidents such as fires to its existing disaster detection system. KBS also conducted a test broadcast in which AI, having learned the announcer's voice, delivered the news.
MBC is also actively utilizing generative AI and related technologies. A notable success case is "That Day, Together Now," featured during the recent presidential election ballot counting broadcast. This exit poll countdown video recreated key moments from the Japanese colonial period to just after Korea's liberation. Generative AI vividly brought to life Sohn Kee-chung's sprint at the Berlin Olympics, Ahn Jung-geun's Harbin incident, and Kim Koo's speech at the first anniversary of liberation, resulting in a peak viewership rating of 20.6%.
The project "The PD Has Disappeared!", directed by the AI producer "Mpago," who became an entertainment PD, is also considered a meaningful initiative. While limitations were observed in communication skills and flexibility, the AI rapidly learned and evolved, generating a wealth of creative planning ideas.
CJ ENM is also intensifying its use of AI technology this year. Last month, the company held the event "The Future of the K-Content Industry Changed by AI Technology" and unveiled its vision to become a global leader in AI content. Shin Geunseop, head of strategic planning, explained, "We are currently applying AI technology to all aspects of content creation, including planning, production, distribution, and marketing, to advance our processes," and added, "We plan to expand the production of AI content across various genres and formats to secure new types of original intellectual property (IP)."
CJ ENM already operates a dedicated organization specializing in AI content and has established its own development systems. In particular, "Cinematic AI" and "AI Script" are considered highly sophisticated and are being used in content production. Cinematic AI is a tool that enables the integration and production of images, videos, and sounds?which previously had to be handled by separate AI tools. AI Script is a technology that discovers promising original IPs based on data analysis.
The first result produced using these technologies is "Cat Biggie," which will be released on YouTube this month. This animated series consists of thirty episodes, each about two minutes long, and was produced entirely with AI technology except for the initial character design. The entire process from planning to production took only five months, and only six people participated. Creator Jung Changik, who was in charge of production, said, "Normally, making an animation requires more than twenty people working for over a year," and added, "Thanks to AI technology, we were able to significantly shorten the production period and reduce costs."
Baek Hyunjung, head of the AI Business Promotion Team who oversaw planning and production, stated, "By using Cinematic AI, we were able to create characters as 3D data and train the video production system with them, which improved the quality of the work." She added, "We also plan to release the feature film 'Apartment,' which captures Korean sentiment using AI technology, and the AI drama 'Legend,' an adventure story based on mythology, within this year."
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