AI is revolutionising the broadcasting industry by enabling data-driven analytics for informed decision-making, streamlining operations through automation, and delivering enriched experiences via advanced machine learning algorithms.
I had the pleasure of moderating a panel on AI at the BroadcastPro Tech Webinar last month, and it was an awesome experience. Besides our panellists, who had so much to share both on- and off-screen, our chat forum buzzed like it had never done on previous occasions.
For a lot of broadcasters, AI is a god-send as it helps us keep pace with the demands of an insatiable viewing audience in various ways – by creating subtitles faster than humans would ever be able to do, metadata creation, censorship and so much else. One panellist said that it can even tailor movie trailers to each individual viewer’s profile within seconds. The fact that AI can do things a lot faster and cheaper also means it is an easier and sometimes more efficient alternative to human resources.
On the chat forum, some attendees decried the use of AI, stating that it was taking away jobs. While some of that fear is warranted, especially within the digital archiving space with AI able to sift through reels of footage at a much faster pace than humanly possible, it also brings a lot of positive elements to the workspace, freeing up our time to do less mundane things.
All our panellists agreed that AI is here to stay and the faster we reconcile ourselves to this fact, the easier it will be for us to then look at next steps. I am unable to do justice to the discussions we had at the webinar in this short space, so I urge you to visit our website and hear from the panellists how AI is affecting the Middle East media market and where it is headed.
One suggestion that came out of that discussion is that we start an AI group so that regional players can share their personal and professional experiences. BroadcastPro took that suggestion on board and created a group on LinkedIn called AI PRO for MENA broadcasters/OTT players. Please join us on the group. While we’re on the topic of AI, you may want to know how Alaraby smashed the Turkish elections with their new platform.
I also want to draw your attention to our cover story this month, on a young filmmaker who has won several awards in the festival circuit for his directorial debut Deadline. There’s so much more inside.
