Artificial Intelligence is revolutionizing the audiovisual industry

The audiovisual industry is undergoing a seismic transformation, ushered in by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI). No longer a futuristic novelty, AI is now an integral force reshaping how content is conceived, produced, and consumed across film, television, streaming platforms, and live events. From script development to post-production, AI is not just enhancing human creativity—it’s unlocking entirely new dimensions of storytelling and audience engagement.

Reinventing production workflows

Artificial intelligence is transforming the creative development process. By analyzing extensive datasets of successful scripts, AI can provide script recommendations, identify effective narrative trends, and enhance the initial stages of development. Tools that automate scriptwriting, schedule management, and logistical organization allow creators to focus more on storytelling and less on repetitive tasks. Major film studios have already started implementing this technology; for example, Warner Bros. uses AI to evaluate scripts and predict box office success.

One noteworthy European initiative is the  MOSIAC project (A Multilingual, Multimodal Centralized AI-based Hub for the European Media Content Market). This project aims to leverage AI to streamline production workflows while promoting multilingual diversity. National broadcasters and academic institutions, such as the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), are collaborating to develop centralized AI-powered platforms that enhance content creation and delivery. By automating tasks like metadata generation, translation, and multimodal indexing, MOSAIC helps to reduce complexity and improve efficiency throughout the production pipeline. The project seeks to ensure that media content better reflects the linguistic and cultural diversity of Europe. The MOSAIC project is leading the way in developing AI-powered solutions to enhance linguistic accessibility by automating high-quality subtitling and dubbing in various European languages. These features aim to widen audience reach while also promoting the visibility of lesser-used languages in audiovisual media. 

The MOSAIC project stands as an important step toward building Europe’s own AI media infrastructure. It empowers regional players to retain sovereignty over linguistic data and supports culturally specific AI tools that reflect European values and linguistic heritage.

Find out how the project is helping national broadcasters with AI Solutions on the project website

Additionally, casting directors are leveraging facial recognition technology to identify the most suitable actors for specific roles based on visual and performance metrics. On film sets, AI is setting new standards for efficiency and precision. The immediate analysis of lighting, camera movements, and scene arrangements enables directors to make data-driven adjustments in real time, capturing more compelling visuals and reducing costly reshoots. These innovations are fundamentally transforming the filmmaking process by seamlessly blending creativity with data analysis to elevate production standards.

Revolutionizing post-production

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is significantly transforming post-production workflows by introducing enhancements that streamline the editing process. With its impressive capabilities, AI can automate complex video editing tasks and make precise adjustments to both audio and visual elements. This innovation reduces the manual labour typically involved in editing while providing greater creative flexibility for editors. AI offers advancements in areas such as colour grading, sound mixing, and the creation of intricate visual effects, injecting both speed and quality at every stage of the editing journey. One of the standout features of AI in post-production is its ability to automatically detect and correct technical issues, ensuring a polished final product. Furthermore, it can generate realistic synthetic scenes and upscale footage from lower resolutions while preserving the editor’s creative vision. 

These technological advancements open up numerous possibilities for filmmakers and content creators looking to enhance their storytelling. However, despite the undeniable efficiency gains from these innovations, there are notable challenges. A heavy reliance on automation may lead to content that appears uniform or lacks originality. It can also introduce subtle errors that may go unnoticed without careful human oversight. AI-generated components often struggle to convey the emotional nuances, depth, and cultural context that human editors naturally understand and incorporate into narratives. Therefore, maintaining editorial oversight is crucial not only for safeguarding artistic integrity but also for preserving the audience's trust and connection.

Expanding accessibility and global reach

One of the most transformative impacts of AI is in language translation. What used to be an expensive luxury—real-time multilingual translation—is now accessible through apps that transmit speech to cloud-based AI servers for instant translation. Viewers can connect using their smartphones, which greatly improves inclusivity at international events. This accessibility is especially crucial in multilingual regions like Europe, where AI ensures that even less common languages are represented, making audiovisual content more universally available. AI is also improving accessibility for people with hearing impairments. For instance, Microsoft’s Copilot AI in PowerPoint can transcribe spoken words into on-screen subtitles with just a click. Similarly, YouTube offers a feature in its Live Studio that allows viewers to activate subtitles in real time. These innovations are helping to break down barriers and expand audience reach.

Smarter content management and discovery

Artificial Intelligence has become a powerful tool in content management, significantly streamlining the process of generating metadata. By automating tasks such as facial recognition, text extraction, speech-to-text transcription, and content classification, AI reduces the workload for content managers. This advanced technology simplifies the organization and management of extensive audiovisual archives, enabling more efficient indexing and searching. In practical terms, integrating AI leads to remarkably faster workflows and improved accuracy across various tasks, from archiving video footage to accurately tagging media assets for future reuse or redistribution.

AI is transforming content personalization, creating tailored experiences for viewers like never before. For example, Netflix’s advanced recommendation engine uses AI to analyze individual viewing habits and preferences, suggesting content specifically suited to each user. Similarly, 20th Century Fox has utilized AI to create movie trailers designed to resonate with specific audience segments. These innovative technologies empower platforms to enhance viewer engagement through precise targeting and in-depth insights into audience behaviours, ultimately transforming how content is curated and delivered.

Behind-the-Scenes Infrastructure Advances

AI is streamlining technical operations behind the scenes as well. In large-format projection, technicians use AI-assisted software and cameras to automatically calibrate multiple projectors for flawless image blending. Similarly, modern audio mixing desks with AI capabilities can autonomously manage complex mic arrays—activating only the microphones in use during live panel discussions, for example, minimizing human error and maximizing clarity.

These tools are not just for high-end studios; mid-sized AV companies are also adopting them to improve service delivery and reduce costs. AXIVA argues AI is increasingly central to live event setups, enabling real-time diagnostics, predictive maintenance, and adaptive system controls—all contributing to more resilient, efficient, and immersive AV experiences.

Looking ahead: What’s next?

When setting up ultrawide projection systems that blend images from multiple projectors, technicians utilize digital cameras and AI-based software to analyze the projected image and adjust the projectors for a seamless display. Additionally, high-end sound mixing desks equipped with AI software can automatically manage various audio inputs simultaneously. For example, during a Q&A panel session with ten participants, the AI mixer can activate only the microphone of the person currently speaking. The development of AI voice and video generators is advancing rapidly. Shortly, it could be possible for your favourite Hollywood movie actor or rock star to address your audience through custom video or audio clips. AI could facilitate the creation of virtual actors who perform convincingly in films, enable interactive movies that adapt to viewers' choices and preferences in real time, and potentially allow AI systems to plan and shoot entire films using data analysis and creative algorithms.

Addressing industry challenges

As artificial intelligence becomes more integrated into the audiovisual industry, it offers significant opportunities alongside complex challenges. These challenges include ethical concerns about content authenticity, the potential for job displacement, and wider economic and geopolitical changes. It is essential to adopt a balanced approach that embraces innovation while protecting quality, trust, and creative sovereignty.

Maintaining Quality and Trust

• AI plays a vital role in content verification, especially as deepfakes and manipulated media become more sophisticated.
  
  
• Automated detection systems help identify falsified or illegal content, supporting content integrity at scale.
  
  
• Implementing safeguards early will ensure continued public trust as AI becomes more widely used across the audiovisual industry.

Evolving the Workforce

• Concerns about job loss are often overstated—AI systems still require human oversight due to their non-zero error rates (typically 3% to 10%).
  
  
• AI enhances rather than replaces human roles, serving as a powerful productivity multiplier.
  
  
• Documentalists and content managers benefit greatly, processing significantly more material with AI assistance than was ever possible manually.

Strategic and economic shifts

Democratizing Production

AI allows smaller producers to compete with industry leaders by significantly reducing production time and costs. Advanced localization, editing, and distribution tools are becoming more accessible, facilitating culturally diverse storytelling on a global scale.

Europe's Role in the AI Landscape

While U.S. companies currently dominate the AI space, there’s growing recognition in Europe of the need for homegrown innovation. European governments and companies are beginning to invest in building interconnected AI ecosystems that support local languages and cultural nuance, ensuring sovereignty over both data and creative expression.

Ethics and the path forward

With great power comes responsibility. Stakeholders are increasingly advocating for the establishment of robust ethical frameworks to govern their use. Central to these frameworks are fundamental principles, including transparency, fairness, and the preservation of cultural heritage. It is essential to address the growing concerns surrounding job displacement, data privacy, and the integrity of creative expression. Achieving this will require a concerted effort that includes comprehensive policy-making, targeted educational initiatives, and collaborative partnerships across industries. Recent developments show meaningful progress, as significant agreements between trade unions and entertainment studios are setting important precedents. These agreements highlight that AI-generated content should enhance human creativity rather than replace it. By implementing such safeguards, we can ensure that technology is used to empower the creative community rather than diminish its vital human elements.

A creative renaissance

Artificial intelligence represents more than just an improvement of existing tools; it signifies a transformative shift in our approach to creative thinking and production. Its integration into the audiovisual sector heralds a future filled with opportunities for creating content that is not only more inclusive and effective but also rich in creativity. The goal is not to choose between human ingenuity and technological innovation; instead, it is to cultivate a collaborative relationship that enhances the strengths of both. By promoting responsible innovation, adhering to ethical standards, and embracing collaborative strategies, the audiovisual industry stands at the threshold of a remarkable new era. This era promises to harness the synergy between human imagination and artificial intelligence, resulting in narratives that are deeply layered, intellectually engaging, and more attuned to a diverse global audience than ever before. The combination of these two forces has the potential to redefine storytelling and elevate the viewer experience in unprecedented ways.