philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

AI Wars Hit Film School: Profs Teach It, Students Rage. ‘What About Our Jobs?’

At USC, Dodge and other top programs, the next generation fears being left in the dust, alarming the elders: 'Participate in the revolution or sit it out' ...

...  In Siegel’s experience, “people within the industry” or “people who have established careers,” she says, “tend to be a lot more interested in AI.” Siegel adds: “They feel a lot more secure in their positions and see AI as a tool that they can use to then move forward.”

Her peers, however, are a different story. In the wake of her short film being announced in the fall, about 30 of her classmates “said really nasty things to my face,” Siegel says. Then, in April, she posted her thesis on Instagram, setting off another wave of peers and strangers who commented or DM’d hateful epithets. ...

Siegel grew up in both New York and Los Angeles — her father worked in cybersecurity and early AI development, while her mother was a writer who later earned a master’s degree in AI ethics. During her time at Chapman, Siegel worked for two different AI startups in entertainment and acted as a freelance AI consultant, helping the likes of an Emmy-winning director and a three-time Tony Award-winning producer sharpen their pitch decks. ...

For this piece, I spoke with the people training Hollywood’s next generation in their roles also teaching classes at top schools ... as well as students caught in the middle, to find out what AI is really doing to entry-level jobs, who’s adapting, and who’s getting left behind. ...

See the full story here: https://theankler.com/p/ai-wars-hit-film-school-profs-teach