Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500728
64 PRODUCTION SOUND & VIDEO – Summer 2023 Video Walls, Volumes, Virtual Production Stages, or whatever you want to call them are a means of playing back an image for the purpose of being photographed by the Camera Department. That work is the jurisdiction of Local 695. Virtual production is not the only disruptive technology that is gaining traction in the entertainment industry. At this year's NAB convention, a wide range of new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine-learning applications were unveiled, such as Adobe Firefly (an art generator), Move AI's Invisible (a real-time marker-less motion-capture tool), and Whisper by OpenAI (an automatic speech recognition tool). While these applications are still in their infancy, there is no denying their potential for development and continued growth. Artificial intelligence and machine learning are poised to revolutionize the industry in the same way as past technological innovations like the internet and smartphones. With AI and machine learning, the industry is expected to become more efficient, streamlined, and cost-effective. However, these new technologies also raise concerns about the displacement of human workers, job security, and ethical considerations. In fact, during this year's trade show, NAB CEO Curtis LeGeyt took to the stage to give his thoughts on this emerging market, stating that "This is an area where NAB will absolutely be active… It is just amazing how quickly the relevance of AI to our entire economy, but specifically, since we're in this room, the broadcast industry has gone from [an] amorphous concept to real." His presentation echoed many of the concerns that members throughout our industry have expressed since tools like ChatGPT and Stable Diffusion have come into play. "We have been fighting for legislation to put some guardrails on it," he said. "We need to ensure that our stations, our content creators are going to be fairly compensated." This warning already rings true for many, as we've seen companies like Microsoft, Disney, Google, and Amazon announce mass layoffs even as they invest billions into