Despite the reliance on AI technology, human oversight will remain crucial to ensure the quality and accuracy of the generated captions.

The media industry is increasingly adopting AI to streamline production processes, raising concerns about potential job displacement due to automation.

In response to these concerns, new contracts resulting from the strikes prohibit studios from using AI to write or edit scripts and require explicit consent for any AI-generated likeness of actors.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has introduced an AI-powered captioning solution called 'Caption AI' in the U.S., leveraging Google Cloud's Vertex AI platform.

This innovative technology aims to enhance the accuracy of captions for unscripted programming, such as news and reality TV, while significantly reducing caption file creation time by up to 80% and cutting costs by as much as 50%.

The captioning solution combines advanced AI optimization with essential human oversight to maintain high accuracy levels and facilitate continuous improvement through data-driven refinement.

Avi Saxena, WBD's CTO, highlighted the importance of high-quality captions and noted that this collaboration with Google Cloud has greatly accelerated the captioning process.

The rollout of Caption AI comes amid ongoing concerns in Hollywood regarding the protection of content libraries from AI copyright infringement, as studios seek to leverage AI tools for more efficient production.

Generative AI has been a contentious topic in Hollywood, particularly following last year's writers and actors strikes, which focused on job security and the implications of AI in creative roles.

Jeremy Zimmer, CEO of United Talent Agency, expressed concerns about the impact of AI partnerships on artists' rights and the potential for job displacement.

Overall, while media companies are increasingly adopting AI to enhance creative processes and reduce costs, there remains a critical need for a legal framework to protect artists and ensure fair compensation.

As part of this initiative, Caption AI will utilize Google Cloud’s Vertex AI platform, which supports generative AI and includes access to the Gemini chatbot.