A new survey on the impact of generative AI (GenAI) on the entertainment industry reveals a dramatic shift in the story of film, television, animation and video game jobs and technology that, the commissioning bodies emphasize, demands urgent attention. The findings indicate a wave of disruption that creative workers will face, characterized by the consolidation, replacement and elimination of job roles as GenAI technology evolves.
CVL Economics conducted the survey, which was commissioned by the Concept Art Association (CAA, conceptartassociation.com), The Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839, animationguild.org), The Human Artistry Campaign (humanartistrycampaign.com) and The National Cartoonist Society Foundation (cartoonistfoundation.org).
The study, conducted between November 17 and December 22, 2023, surveyed 300 C-Suite leaders, senior executives and mid-level managers across six key entertainment industries to better understand how this technology is being used now, how it will be used over the next three years, and assessing how these technologies will impact creative workers.
Key findings include:
- Three-fourths (75%) of survey respondents indicated GenAI tools, software and/or models had supported the elimination, reduction or consolidation of jobs in their business division. At the same time, most executives and managers indicate GenAI has already led to the creation of new job titles and roles in their organization. Whether these new jobs will offset inevitable job losses is not
clear. - Over 90% of business leaders foresee GenAI playing a larger role in the entertainment industries, with 26% indicating it would play a significantly larger role over the next three years. That said, only 26% of respondents felt their organization’s workforce was fully prepared for the integration of GenAI into their workflows.
- Almost half (47%) of business leaders felt that over the next three years, GenAI will be effective in generating 3D assets as well as realistic sound design for film, television and video games. Another 44% believed GenAI would be able to generate realistic and convincing foreign-language dubbing for film or television dialogue, and 39% believed GenAI would be generating music mixes and masters by 2026.
- About 21.4% of film, television and animation jobs (or approximately 118,500 jobs) are likely to have a sufficient number of tasks affected to be either consolidated, replaced or eliminated by GenAI in the U.S. by 2026. As the state with the largest industry employment and industry concentration (or location quotient), California will be impacted the most (affecting 39,500 jobs) both in total job disruption nationwide and with respect to its own economy. New York also has a relatively high employment concentration and will see 15,100 film, television, and animation jobs affected over the next three years.
For more information on the survey and its implications, visit conceptartassociation.com/advocacy or click here for the full report, “Future Unscripted: The Impact of Generative Artificial Intelligence on Entertainment Industry Jobs.”
