Amazon’s AI Studio in hiring mode as chief outlines strategy

Amazon MGM Studios is looking to bulk up its nascent AI Studio division but its chief Albert Cheng said he was not looking to replace human actors as the company incorporates the tech into its content creation processes. 

Cheng, the former Prime Video US boss who shifted to an overarching role leading AI investment last year, said he viewed the technology as “an enhancement not a replacement” for humans both infront and behind the camera.

“That really is the north star for us at Amazon,” Cheng said, adding that AI was “very good at mimicking” but would not replace authentic human creativity.

It is understood that Amazon’s AI Studio is in the midst of a hiring spree for the division’s ‘live action’ unit, seeking US-based creative executives across all experience levels.

“Technology-forward creative and production leaders responsible for the production of GenAI live-action projects” are being sought, according to a job advertisement seen by Broadcast International.

The creative executive roles require “deep traditional production experience with cutting-edge GenAI artistry”, with annual salaries of up to $183,900 (£135,000) available.

Key responsibilities include supervising “the end-to-end creative production process” to turn creative visions into on-screen content using Gen-AI tools, as well as managing workflows and experimenting with new tech.

A minmimum of five years creative exec experience is required, with “advanced mastery” of Gen-AI techniques and leadership qualities also in demand.

Amazon added that it wants candidates with “ethical acumen” and a “strong understanding of data governance, intellectual property (IP) issues, and ethical considerations surrounding generative media in a studio environment.”

AI sensitivities

The move to increase focus on AI production comes alongside a broader push across Amazon’s business to invest in AI tech to speed up processes.

The retail giant has, like many major tech companies, incorporated AI across swathes of its vast operations over recent years and more is expected. At the same time, Hollywood and producers around the world are concerned that the moves will remove jobs from the industry. 

Amazon cut 16,000 roles across its vast operations last month, although this was not directly tied to investments in AI.

Cheng’s strategy towards AI on screen has been closely watched since his appointment in August and the exec, speaking at NATPE, said speeding up the production process would be a key focus.

He launched a new division developing AI tools for creatives in August, with the suite expected to be launched in March. The focus is on enabling costs to be cut and productions made more efficiently.

“AI will make things faster, but the challenge now is to work out how we provide the creator with the control on shows,” he said. “One of the challenges of doing big shows like Fallout is that they take 24 months to produce and over that period, you have pretty severe audience attrition.

“It is just not economically viable to have that [time between seasons] on these shows,” he said, adding that AI would be used to speed up production to ensure audiences are retained and finanical models underpinning series are more viable.

Cheng was speaking alongside Wonder Project founder Jon Erwin, who outlined how his Biblical drama House of David had used AI to cut production time.

Erwin said AI-created actors such as Tilly Norwood would be the future of the scripted industry, adding that the tech would instead be used to augment human actors’ behaviours and appearances.

“I see it as a new set of tools that pairs incredibly well with human creativity,” Erwin said. “And the people who integrate these tools will be able to access a lot of ways to create [shows] and do it much more quickly.”

Erwin said the first season of House of David, which was picked up by Prime Video globally, had employed 600 people, adding that the tech would create new types of jobs across the sector.

Cheng added: “The most important thing we can do is to engage with AI and the worst thing we could do is to put our heads in the sand about it and ignore it. It’s not going away.

“How we think about the technology, the template and the rules by which we want to engage with it is ripe for defining. And now is the right time for us to define the rules of engagement of AI in this business so it is ethical, it is responsible and human centered.

“These are all things we are moving very quickly to define because without that definition it can go in a different direction.

“That is part of the reason why we wanted to be go aggressive so we would start to think about how we define these rules and think about how we can work with the community to make content.”

Cheng added that his ambition was to use AI to create content that audiences could not distinguish from programming created without the tech.

“At the end of the day it is really about not wanting the audience to know there is a difference.”