Hollywood's Caution on AI Could Disadvantage Next-Generation Creatives
While U.S. studios and artists remain skeptical of artificial intelligence, counterparts in India, South Korea, and Norway are adopting the technology at scale. This divergence in approach could affect how competitive American creatives become globally as AI becomes more central to media production.
The observation emerged from a panel at this week's AI on the Lot conference, held at Amazon MGM Studios in Culver City, California. Participants included Richard Chuang, co-founder of Pacific Data Images (which became DreamWorks), Stephan Vladimir Bugaj, an Emmy-winning creative now leading GenAI content at Indian media company JioStar, Mrinalini Rao of Google's international research team, and Christian Schussler, CEO of Norwegian AI studio Reimagine Studios.
Each panelist described how AI adoption differs outside the United States. JioStar released a fully AI-generated show called "Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh." South Korea's government is developing an AI textbook for students. Norway's education system has enabled a more measured assessment of the technology's potential and limits.
In contrast, Chuang said a Northern California school saw students petition to ban AI. He attributed the resistance to misinformation and inadequate education about what the technology can and cannot do.
"I blame a lot of educators for not educating them properly, because it turns out our educators are not as versed in AI as I can imagine they should be," Chuang said. "That's a big challenge for us in the U.S."
He called for universities to teach AI classes to their professors. Understanding the technology's limits and guardrails matters more than rejecting it outright, he said.
Niche Content Becomes Affordable
One practical benefit of AI is lower production costs and timelines. That opens doors for creators to make content targeting specific, devoted audiences that would be too expensive under traditional methods.
"Making niche content affordable is super interesting, and I think there's a lot of opportunity there," Bugaj said. He cited the example of a Malaysian filmmaker who created a feature exploring LGBTQ+ and domestic violence themes-subjects that would have triggered censorship-and released it through AI at international film festivals.
"That was his way of being able to speak to this in his own language with people who look like his culture, with settings that look like his culture," Bugaj said. "There are entire cultures out there who don't necessarily get their material seen, and some of them can't even make their material."
In South Korea, K-pop companies are building AI artists. Rather than resist the trend, audiences are engaging with the process, with the AI having personalized conversations with fans to deepen involvement.
Training Data Matters
AI models built by U.S. companies often train on Western-centric imagery and video. Chinese models carry similar biases toward Chinese visuals. This creates problems when trying to generate authentic representations of other cultures.
India is building a national AI model trained on local data and imagery to address this gap. Rao said the approach ensures generated content reflects Indian regions and communities accurately.
In Norway, Schussler is working with the government to tap the national library-which archives all published material dating back centuries-to train his models. This preserves Norwegian culture in an era when generic, globalized imagery dominates.
"It will really help safeguard the culture in a world where everything's sort of generalizing and washing out," he said.
For creatives looking to stay competitive, understanding how AI tools work for creative professionals and exploring generative art techniques is becoming essential as adoption accelerates globally.
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