Real-time Intelligence is Reshaping the Global Film and Television Ecosystem

Artificial intelligence is no longer just a sci-fi concept on the screen; it has deeply integrated into every aspect of the film and television industry, from creative generation to final screening, completely transforming the way we create and consume stories. In 2025, the production time for visual effects shots of the hit TV series “The Eternauts” has been reduced from several weeks to just a few days, with costs dropping to one-tenth of the original. This is all thanks to the integration and application of AI tools. What once required seven people to complete in seven days (for the film “A Tapestry of a Legendary Land“) can now be accomplished by one person in just half a day with high quality. Real-time intelligence technology is changing the global film and television ecosystem at an astonishing speed.

1. Technological Innovation: The Disruptive Impact of Real-time Intelligence
The application of AI in the film and television industry has long surpassed the experimental stage. It is predicted that by 2030, the scale of AI in the media and entertainment market will reach 99.48 billion US dollars, with an average annual growth rate of 26.9%.
The most direct impact of real-time intelligence technology is the leap in production efficiency. In the TV series “The Eternauts“, Netflix and an Argentine special effects team used AI to generate building collapse scenes, completing the task ten times faster than traditional tools.
Virtual production technology is ending the “green screen era”. The 270° LED screen at the Bo’ai Film and Television Base has achieved “what you see is what you get” shooting, significantly reducing the cost and risk of outdoor shooting.
2.  Democratization of Creativity: Lowering Barriers and Expanding Boundaries
AI technology is lowering the threshold for film and television creation. Data from the “Report on the Development of China’s Online Audio-visual Industry (2025)” shows that nearly one-third of netizens use AI to create images and videos.
In June this year, an AI short film “Mirage“ with a budget of only 5,000 yuan made a stunning appearance at the Shanghai International Film Festival. This 8-minute work was completed by a team of four people, who never left the country but presented foreign street scenes and realistic special effects.
The popularization of open-source AI tools and video generation models has made the creative group more diverse. Currently, the main groups involved in AI film creation include: AI technology enthusiasts in the field of scientific research and development, traditional film and television practitioners seeking transformation, content-focused self-media creators, and film and television students.
3. Talent Structure Reform: New Roles and Skill Reshaping
With the integration of AI technology, the talent demand in the film and television industry is undergoing significant changes. LinkedIn’s report shows that the demand for AI-related creative roles increased by 60% from 2022 to 2024.
Traditional positions such as visual effects artists and technicians are facing transformation pressure. AI may reduce entry-level and mid-level positions, concentrating creative control in fewer hands.
However, at the same time, AI has created new professional roles, such as AI directors, creative technology experts, and machine learning editors. These new positions usually require professional skills and training, meaning the industry needs to rethink its talent cultivation system.
4. Power Structure Reconstruction: The Collision of Old and New Forces
Real-time intelligence technology is reshaping the power dynamics in Hollywood and other film and television centers. The collaboration between Netflix and Runway AI marks the increasing influence of technology companies in the traditional film and television industry.
Runway AI has become one of the most attractive AI challengers in Hollywood, having received over 500 million US dollars in investment and a valuation of over 3 billion US dollars. However, it remains to be seen whether Runway can win wide recognition in Hollywood in the face of competition from tech giants like OpenAI and Google.
For streaming giants, AI is a strategic lever in the increasingly competitive entertainment environment. The ability to quickly generate and iterate provides studios with unprecedented control – lower costs and faster turnaround times.
5.  Ethical Challenges: The Dilemma of Consensus, Credit, and Control
As AI is deeply integrated into the film and television industry, ethical issues are becoming increasingly prominent. Recently, an international film made headlines for using AI to modify the ending without the director’s consent, sounding the alarm.
There have been reports that AI tools have been trained using actors’ voices without their consent, and that real faces have been used to create deepfake content without attribution or transparency.
AI-generated images complicate the traditional concepts of authorship and ownership. When machines remix and generate new visual effects based on millions of previous works – often without the consent or compensation of the original artists – what are the rights of the creators? 06 6. The Human Core: The Artistic Soul That Technology Cannot Replace
Despite the powerful capabilities of AI, the core position of human creativity remains unshakable. As Oscar-winning composer A.R. Rahman put it, “AI can give you a draft version of a song, but phrasing, emotion, and voice are uniquely human.” 1
The essence of film art lies in its imperfections: an unscripted glance, a camera shake that feels more real than a perfect shot, or an actor’s impromptu line change that alters a scene. These elements are not flaws but characteristics of the human creative process.
No matter how advanced AI becomes, it cannot replicate spontaneity. It is trained on past patterns. It can predict but not invent; it can reflect but not originate.
7. Future Outlook: A New Ecosystem of Collaboration and Transparency
The best path forward for the future of the film and television industry is collaboration between humans and machines. AI should be a co-creator, not a cold replacement.
The industry must involve creative workers in the development and deployment of AI tools to ensure that technology amplifies rather than erases human skills and expression. Unions and guilds must negotiate protective measures that reflect this new reality and guarantee fair compensation for AI-assisted work.
Transparency is also crucial. Audiences increasingly want to know how content is made – not just for moral clarity, but to maintain cultural trust.
Imagine a future where works disclose the extent of AI’s involvement, allowing audiences to appreciate the hybrid nature of modern storytelling. John Hughes, founder of US visual effects companies R&H and TAU, predicts that within a year, AI will be capable of producing film-level imagery work. By then, there could be 100 million people worldwide making movies.
But when audiences walk into a cinema, they are seeking an experience composed of human emotions and their expression, not AI special effects.
In Hollywood, the screenwriting department and AI teams jointly conceive the plot, directors use real-time rendering for previews, and visual effects artists collaborate with algorithms… Human-machine collaboration is becoming the new normal. The future is here. Only creators who can effectively leverage AI to empower rather than replace humans can secure a place in this transformation.