Fast Forward – The AI Revolution: What Will Our Industry Look Like in 5 Years?
At this year’s Series Mania Forum, industry leaders gathered for a thought-provoking panel titled Fast Forward – The AI Revolution: What Will Our Industry Look Like in 5 Years? The session, moderated by Elizabeth Le Hot, CEO of Adami France, explored how artificial intelligence is already transforming television, film, gaming, and digital content. And what the future holds for creators, audiences, and businesses alike.
The panel featured key voices in the AI debate: Marianne Carpentier, Director of emerging technologies development for content at TF1; Erik Barmack, Founder/CEO of Wild Sheep Content and former VP of International Originals at Netflix; Guillemette Picard, SVP of Production Technology at Ubisoft France and Johann Choron, Strategic Partnerships & Gen AI Lead - Media & Entertainment at Google France.
Moderator Elizabeth Le Hot opened with clear parameters: "Our objective today is to highlight where in the value chain AI is already being used and what it can deliver. We will show how it is already being used and illustrate this with use cases."
Marianne Carpentier, TF1's Director of Emerging Technologies, immediately distinguished between informational and creative content: "As a media group our two main concerns are first of all the use of AI concerning the information, the way we tell the world like it is, the reality. We have a very strict charter that imposes complete transparency regarding the use of AI if we use it and a human verification in all the cases."
For entertainment content, Carpentier struck a different tone: "Regarding the way we could tell stories, fictional stories, this is not the same thing. The creativity and the artistic vision is all by a human. We are not working with machines. We are working with humans that could use machines or algorithms just like they do for years now in VFX."
Carpentier shared several compelling examples of AI in action at TF1. One documentary production story stood out: "The artist who was interviewed asked us to project behind him a video of birds flying in the sky. It was not the right season... so we generated birds flying in the sky and actually the artist was inspired by that. He began dancing in front of the images which was something very artistically interesting because it was mixing a very technological thing with a completely human body."
She also discussed AI's role in breathing new life into legacy content: "Some of our movies were shot in the 2000s and the quality is not good enough for current broadcasting. We could use AI to increase the quality of the image of our catalogues and give another life to them. This creates a new business model as well."
Erik Barmack, former Netflix executive and founder of Wild Sheep Content, brought a blunt perspective from Los Angeles: "When I wrote my first column about AI for a Hollywood publication, I got a private note saying that I hope you eat a raw chicken and die. The fear of disintermediation is so great in Hollywood that we have to acknowledge the fear on some level."
His production company exemplifies AI's efficiency gains: "We get 20 scripts a week. We used to have one person spend 20 to 30 hours a week doing script coverage. That work is done in five minutes and it's done better." Barmack estimated that "80 to 90 percent of the work that's being done has already been impacted in some way by AI. It's not a future that we're heading to. It's something that's part of our day-to-day business."
Barmack presented starkly different potential futures for AI in entertainment. The optimistic view celebrates democratization: "A 22-year-old woman whose mom had died of cancer decided to do a short film that imagined what it would be like to go out for an evening with her mom. She took pictures from her mom's life and transposed them into a film that was beautiful. I thought it could only be told today."
But he warned of dystopian possibilities: "My kids just wanted not only to not be on a streaming service they love to show, but they're on watching short-form content... What if the way we're watching TV is more like my kids and all they're doing now is watching one- to two- and three-minute clips? We lose the specificity of what it means to have an Icelandic story that's well-crafted."
Guillemette Picard of Ubisoft France showcased how gaming pushes AI boundaries: "Imagine now that you're playing a strategic game, but you need to be recruited on a team for a very special mission. You first have an interview with what we used to call a non-playing character, but that's becoming really smart. We need to find a new word for that."
She described experimental formats: "Another type of game we've seen is a sort of detective game where you need to sort out an enigma. Actually, I think it was a murder. You have a number of clues, but you interact with a robot, with a character, whatever it is. You need to interact with that character in order to figure out what actually happened."
Johann Choron of Google France emphasized collaborative development: "We work with global partners to understand how can it be really useful in your daily life? What do you need from those tools?" He highlighted their AI film festival with Artefact: "The winner, Raphael Friedman, was really impressive in the story tells, in the way he used AI. We made that person meet our researcher to discuss how to achieve long-form content."
As the session closed, the panelists agreed AI presents both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks. Carpentier's vision of AI as "a very powerful tool for creative people to express a vision" contrasted with Barmack's warning about potential cultural homogenization.
The discussion ultimately suggested that the entertainment industry's future will depend on finding the right balance - harnessing AI's potential while protecting the human creativity and cultural diversity that make storytelling meaningful. As Barmack summarized: "There's a world in which hundreds of thousands of films can be made by one or two or three people with voices that otherwise would have been silenced. Totally stunning change in artistic freedom."
At the end Carpentier noted that “not forgetting the legal part training, we need to make the people aware of what they are doing with their data, or the personal data of the people they are working with. We need everybody to be aware of that, and knowing what you are doing. And when you are using a tech, know what are the rules, where your data are going or not, and the contract you need to sign or to deal with the tech company... The more they are aware about that, the more they will use it correctly. I saw a trailer yesterday from Africa, from Congo, a full AI trailer of a TV series, and I don't think I would have seen that if not in AI. And it was so amazing. The quality was super interesting, the story was really appealing, and I think this is a new way to get more diversity on screens as well. So this is a bright perspective.”
Google’s representative concluded that there is “a pedagogical angle, as well as a critical thinking angle, not to use AI just because you can, it's not because you can that you should, but also knowing why you would use it, what purpose it would serve. So I think there is a responsibility collectively from the society, so whether it's the state, the ministry, the regulator, but also from tech companies like us to really focus on upskilling, adapting to the change, and making sure that the jobs that are going to be impacted, because they will, they can anticipate and embrace this change.
All panelists agreed urgent action is needed in three areas: establishing new economic models to fairly compensate human creativity, implementing comprehensive training programs across all industry sectors, and developing legal frameworks to protect both intellectual property and personal data. The discussion ultimately framed AI not as a replacement for human creativity but as a transformative tool that - if carefully managed - could expand storytelling possibilities while maintaining artistic authenticity and cultural diversity.
Moderator Elizabeth Le Hot opened with clear parameters: "Our objective today is to highlight where in the value chain AI is already being used and what it can deliver. We will show how it is already being used and illustrate this with use cases."
Marianne Carpentier, TF1's Director of Emerging Technologies, immediately distinguished between informational and creative content: "As a media group our two main concerns are first of all the use of AI concerning the information, the way we tell the world like it is, the reality. We have a very strict charter that imposes complete transparency regarding the use of AI if we use it and a human verification in all the cases."
For entertainment content, Carpentier struck a different tone: "Regarding the way we could tell stories, fictional stories, this is not the same thing. The creativity and the artistic vision is all by a human. We are not working with machines. We are working with humans that could use machines or algorithms just like they do for years now in VFX."
Carpentier shared several compelling examples of AI in action at TF1. One documentary production story stood out: "The artist who was interviewed asked us to project behind him a video of birds flying in the sky. It was not the right season... so we generated birds flying in the sky and actually the artist was inspired by that. He began dancing in front of the images which was something very artistically interesting because it was mixing a very technological thing with a completely human body."
She also discussed AI's role in breathing new life into legacy content: "Some of our movies were shot in the 2000s and the quality is not good enough for current broadcasting. We could use AI to increase the quality of the image of our catalogues and give another life to them. This creates a new business model as well."
Erik Barmack, former Netflix executive and founder of Wild Sheep Content, brought a blunt perspective from Los Angeles: "When I wrote my first column about AI for a Hollywood publication, I got a private note saying that I hope you eat a raw chicken and die. The fear of disintermediation is so great in Hollywood that we have to acknowledge the fear on some level."
His production company exemplifies AI's efficiency gains: "We get 20 scripts a week. We used to have one person spend 20 to 30 hours a week doing script coverage. That work is done in five minutes and it's done better." Barmack estimated that "80 to 90 percent of the work that's being done has already been impacted in some way by AI. It's not a future that we're heading to. It's something that's part of our day-to-day business."
Barmack presented starkly different potential futures for AI in entertainment. The optimistic view celebrates democratization: "A 22-year-old woman whose mom had died of cancer decided to do a short film that imagined what it would be like to go out for an evening with her mom. She took pictures from her mom's life and transposed them into a film that was beautiful. I thought it could only be told today."
But he warned of dystopian possibilities: "My kids just wanted not only to not be on a streaming service they love to show, but they're on watching short-form content... What if the way we're watching TV is more like my kids and all they're doing now is watching one- to two- and three-minute clips? We lose the specificity of what it means to have an Icelandic story that's well-crafted."
Guillemette Picard of Ubisoft France showcased how gaming pushes AI boundaries: "Imagine now that you're playing a strategic game, but you need to be recruited on a team for a very special mission. You first have an interview with what we used to call a non-playing character, but that's becoming really smart. We need to find a new word for that."
She described experimental formats: "Another type of game we've seen is a sort of detective game where you need to sort out an enigma. Actually, I think it was a murder. You have a number of clues, but you interact with a robot, with a character, whatever it is. You need to interact with that character in order to figure out what actually happened."
Johann Choron of Google France emphasized collaborative development: "We work with global partners to understand how can it be really useful in your daily life? What do you need from those tools?" He highlighted their AI film festival with Artefact: "The winner, Raphael Friedman, was really impressive in the story tells, in the way he used AI. We made that person meet our researcher to discuss how to achieve long-form content."
As the session closed, the panelists agreed AI presents both unprecedented opportunities and significant risks. Carpentier's vision of AI as "a very powerful tool for creative people to express a vision" contrasted with Barmack's warning about potential cultural homogenization.
The discussion ultimately suggested that the entertainment industry's future will depend on finding the right balance - harnessing AI's potential while protecting the human creativity and cultural diversity that make storytelling meaningful. As Barmack summarized: "There's a world in which hundreds of thousands of films can be made by one or two or three people with voices that otherwise would have been silenced. Totally stunning change in artistic freedom."
At the end Carpentier noted that “not forgetting the legal part training, we need to make the people aware of what they are doing with their data, or the personal data of the people they are working with. We need everybody to be aware of that, and knowing what you are doing. And when you are using a tech, know what are the rules, where your data are going or not, and the contract you need to sign or to deal with the tech company... The more they are aware about that, the more they will use it correctly. I saw a trailer yesterday from Africa, from Congo, a full AI trailer of a TV series, and I don't think I would have seen that if not in AI. And it was so amazing. The quality was super interesting, the story was really appealing, and I think this is a new way to get more diversity on screens as well. So this is a bright perspective.”
Google’s representative concluded that there is “a pedagogical angle, as well as a critical thinking angle, not to use AI just because you can, it's not because you can that you should, but also knowing why you would use it, what purpose it would serve. So I think there is a responsibility collectively from the society, so whether it's the state, the ministry, the regulator, but also from tech companies like us to really focus on upskilling, adapting to the change, and making sure that the jobs that are going to be impacted, because they will, they can anticipate and embrace this change.
All panelists agreed urgent action is needed in three areas: establishing new economic models to fairly compensate human creativity, implementing comprehensive training programs across all industry sectors, and developing legal frameworks to protect both intellectual property and personal data. The discussion ultimately framed AI not as a replacement for human creativity but as a transformative tool that - if carefully managed - could expand storytelling possibilities while maintaining artistic authenticity and cultural diversity.
