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Generative A.I. is truly in a full swing. In February, OpenAI unveiled Sora, a text-to-video generative AI model, once again capturing the world’s attention. Under the description of “All videos on this page were generated directly by Sora without modification,” Sora can transform any text command into a video lasting up to one minute. With A.I. becoming ubiquitous across industries that try to meet the trend, we analyzed how and where A.I. is used in media contents industry. 

Video generated by Sora, OpenAI's video production diffuse AI model 

Active Use of Deepfake and De-aging Technology

South Korean media production studio has already been actively using generative A.I. Generative A.I. technology, such as voice restoration, de-aging, and deepfake, enhances the efficiency of production.

A Killer Paradox, the Netflix series released last February, attracted much attention for casting the childhood actor who looked exactly like the adulthood actor, SON Suk-ku. Surprisingly however, the childhood face was realized with the help of deepfake and de-aging technology using A.I. The final result was recreated by putting Son’s childhood picture on the child actor using A.I. technology. 

The Disney+ series Big Bet, released in 2022, stars CHOI Min-sik portraying a character in his 30s. Despite being in his 60s now, Choi convincingly plays a younger version of himself, thanks to the assistance of A.I. This technology analyzed his youthful face and voice, effectively transforming Choi into his 30s self on screen.

In addition, the JTBC drama series Welcome to Samdal-ri, which concluded in January, also utilized deepfake technology. When the lead character's younger selves were depicted on screen, the technology recreated the late host of Korea's longest-running non-scripted program, the National Singing Contest, SONG Hae.

Other examples of adopting the technology include an A.I. audio drama, Welcome to the Hyunam-Dong Bookshop' co-produced and released by Millie, an E-book platform in Korea, and KT AI Voice Studio. Additionally, Korea–Khitan War, an epic drama series by KBS, actively used AI-based special effects in the battle scenes requiring a massive crowd.

Netflix series A KILLER PARADOX created actor SON's childhood face

CHOI Minsik portrays a man in his 30s and 50s in the Disney+ series Casino.

Maximizing Efficiency in Labor Intensive VFX Industry and the Awe of the Vivid recreation

The examples above illustrate generative A.I in Korean contents utilizes deepfake and de-aging the most. The biggest advantage from this technology is the maximized efficiency in the production. The technology combines auto-tracking, which automatically tracks movements in certain parts of the face, and auto-mast technology, a skill to correct the color or shape of certain parts. 

C-JeS Studio – merged with Gulliver Studio in 2022, produced Big Bet. Its VFX team noted that “VFX procedures are shifting from labor-intensive work to more efficient tasks, thanks to the current use of A.I.” “Creating digital humans or virtual influencers with generative A.I., they could save time and effort by avoiding the need for additional casting of stand-ins or stunt doubles for the lead roles,” they added. 

Welcome to Samdal-ri was created with similar technologies and procedure. A.I. was trained to learn the face of SONG Hae, the late host of National Singing Contest, back in 1994. Then a shadow actor was used to film the actual scene, with SONG Hae’s digital image overlaid onto the actor’s face. When asked about the adoption of the technology, MI Studio, which created the VFX for the drama, explained that “there was an additional process to seamlessly composite the images during the post-production stage.” As A.I. crafted the reality, it resonated with a wide audience. MI Studio highlighted the positive impact of deepfake technology, emphasizing that “the cast's heartfelt portrayal of cherished memories and longing for Song successfully touched the audience.”

Now, production studios are focusing more on seamless level of completion. In addition, the range and scope of using AI are getting wider. Currently producing a Netflix drama series and an Amazon Prime Original drama series, C-JeS Studio is zeroing in a more detailed de-aging effect. On top of that, they are also expanding the use of AI, employing it in tasks like generating draft designs for architectural layouts and screen interfaces.

Creating a safe environment to use A.I.

While maximizing efficiency and touching audience with vivid description would be a huge win for the industry, issues remain. There are rising concern over the ownership of the intellectual property and the violation of portrait rights. Furthermore, the child actor, stand-ins and crew for hair and makeup would be replaced by A.I. technology. 

Professor Min Sung Kim of Research Institute for Information & Culture at Korea University has highlighted that the current industry environment lacks clarity in legally addressing issues such as 'the solution to invading IP and portrait rights when generative AI learns and collects data to train itself, and whether A.I.'s creations will infringe upon original copyrighted material.’

Regarding concerns about AI potentially replacing the original workforce, Professor Kim expressed skepticism, stating, "We still require a significant amount of human labor." He further commented, “While there are worrisome opinions suggesting that A.I. could replace the original workforce, not only in the film industry, but in the media in general, considering the current capacity and speed of AI technology's advancement, we should focus on leveraging A.I. to enhance productivity and create more efficient production environments. There's still a long way to go for A.I. to entirely supplant the existing workforce. To advance AI services in the media industry, a substantial labor force is still indispensable.

While Kim pointed out that “generative A.I. naturally brings a system to produce content efficiently,” he also emphasized the need of literacy training among users and a sense of ethics among producers to prevent abuse. He urged that “everyone should be keen-eyed to create a safer environment to use the technology where creators can harness it effectively.”

To address potential copyright issues in the era of A.I. and to come up with effective policies, the Ministry of culture, sports and tourism implemented a system to improve A.I. copyright framework. The ministry has released a Guide on Generative AI and Copyright in an effort to minimize concern. 

Written by Chae So-ra 

Translated by KIM Gyeong Yeon