136 experimentation phase with multiple customers around the world. Microsoft and StudioLAB are also collaborating with media technology provider Avid to demonstrate how high-performance workflows – including collaborative editing, content archiving and backup – can be securely deployed in the cloud. Tools such as Avid MediaCentral, Cloud UX and Media Composer are already helping Disney to streamline its operations. Expanding on the challenges and opportunities in content marketing and production, Crownshaw highlights how AI-powered tools are accelerating traditionally timeintensive processes. “Media professionals can use AI to identify which commercials to run without needing to review each one individually,” he says. “Plus, the time it takes to produce a movie (typically one to two years) can be influenced by AI-powered rendering tools. For example, while traditional frame rendering can take several minutes per frame, AI-enhancements to such workflows can reduce the time for each frame. Even saving a couple of minutes per frame across thousands of frames could have a meaningful impact on production timelines.” And this is just the beginning – audio and video editing are expected to be among the areas most impacted by AI in the next two to three years, according to Devoncroft. However, media professionals will need to act fast to catch up and adapt if they want to capitalise on the potential of AI. To do so, they can look to other industries that have already overcome similar transformational challenges. “Other industries have more resources than media to move faster and spin solutions to meet their individual needs,” says Crownshaw. “The media industry is fragmented by design but it’s important to take a step back and learn from other sectors.” Financial services, for instance, is an industry experienced in managing security at scale, with lessons that media companies can readily apply to rights management. “From an industry perspective, we don’t manage security or rights management as well as we should,” admits Crownshaw. “AI can be used as a rights management engine that enables us to make sure we’re automating protection of content and controlling who can use it. That means sports leagues, for example, aren’t having their content pirated. “As part of the content creation process, we also need to know who owns the rights to a song or video and who can use it at any given time. However, firms are often using rights engines with poor data, so they aren’t sure what they can and can’t distribute. This means they take a risk-averse approach and just don’t put content out to avoid getting into trouble or giving out royalties. That’s why you see more media firms investing in AI to building their own rights engines to deal with those issues.” Crownshaw suggests the media industry could accelerate this progress by learning from how other sectors handle complex, data-driven challenges. “Healthcare manages the storage of personal data amazingly,” he says. “The media industry can also learn from telecommunication providers on how to better distribute content through 5G or IP connectivity.” By acknowledging their own operational gaps and becoming more FEATURE Doctor Who also exemplifies how the media industry is embracing more visual, data-driven storytelling to reach larger audiences
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