Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Points of view: Artificial intelligence

01/07/2021

Hackthorn Innovations Steve Sharman explains why AI is set to move up the value chain to increasingly help optimise and automate parts of production workflows

By Contributor

Published: July 1, 2021

Hackthorn Innovation's Steve Sharman explains why AI is set to move up the value chain to increasingly help optimise and automate parts of production workflows

target=_blank title=Share on LinkedIn class=share-linkedin>

Artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies are gradually being deployed by media companies mainly to drive process efficiency through automation. As part of this year's MediaTech Outlook report, TVBEurope invited Steve Sharman, director at Hackthorn Innovation, to guide us through the latest thinking.

Prior to the pandemic, what sorts of AI/machine learning deployments were we seeing by media companies?We were seeing gradual adoption of AI and machine learning in the media industry, particularly around automated content analysis. We had a couple of years of high profile public demonstrations; Sky's live tagging for the Royal Wedding for example. We had wider real deployments starting to quietly happen, typically to support the cataloguing and consolidation of archives in order to exploit them on streaming services; or reduce the time taken in compliance. At high volumes, saving operators a few minutes per piece of content starts to add up to significant overall reductions.

Again pre-pandemic, what were the biggest areas of challenge in terms of technology development or deployment?Boring but important stuff: legacy infrastructure. The use of AI to process content at production scale typically requires hefty resources; it takes a lot of content and processing power to train the kind of deep neural networks typically used for video or sound processing, and then more compute plus easy access to the content to carry out the analysis. Typically, you want your content on the public cloud, and that's been a big step for media companies. Legacy workflows typically assume that content is readily to hand, so they're not just moving content to the cloud, but some pretty significant workflows as well. Transformative projects can be hard work in difficult commercial environments.

Points of view: 5G and broadcast

What effect has the pandemic period had in terms of accelerated technology adoption/deployment, or any other significant areas?On the one hand we've seen mass adoption of public cloud-based and remote workflows almost overnight. It became almost a matter of survival to move production and distribution workflows into the cloud, and once there, using AI to support archive, compliance and other workflows becomes an incremental transformation. We've also seen some AI-powered production solutions be adopted far more quickly than the norm - for example the automated sound mixing and virtual crowd solutions from Salsa Sound have seen rapid take-ups to keep a high quality premium sports experience going in a world of empty stadia.

What would you say are the areas of AI that are going to have the most profound impact in the coming years, and why? The non-flashy applications of AI will continue to have a significant impact; using AI to significantly reduce data-centre cooling costs at Google is a great example of this. We're already seeing the impact of AI on compliance, archive, QC and some VFX workflows (e.g. Rotoscoping), and this will become increasingly packaged and widely available. Aligned to this we're also going to see AI move up the value chain to increasingly help optimise and automate parts of production workflows, making it possible for smaller and less experienced storytellers to compete on production values. The wide availability of AI technologies in the public cloud also means that our industry can take advantage of new techniques almost as soon as they are released, which is a refreshingly new pace!

data-src=https://www.tvbeurope.com/wp-content/themes/tvbeurope/library/images/tvbe-subs.jpg width=729 height=90>
LINK: https://www.tvbeurope.com/production-post/points-of-view-artificial-in...
See more stories from tvb

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

01/06/2026

Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026

January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026 Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...

02/05/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Search, Faster Editing, and an AI-Ready Foundation for Modern Media

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...

01/05/2026

NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to Integrate Dolby's Full Suite of Premium Picture and Sound Innovations

January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...

01/04/2026

DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION

January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...

06/03/2026

TNT Sports Acquires Exclusive U.S. English Language Broadcast Rights to FIBA Men's and Women's Tournaments

TNT Sports and the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have reached a mul...

06/03/2026

OffBall to Partner with TOGETHXR Across Commercial Strategy and Operations

OffBall and TOGETHXR, two influential young media companies in sports, announce a strategic and operational partnership in a shared push to scale and create inn...

06/03/2026

InfoComm 2026 Names Shure as Exclusive Headline Partner, Showcasing Audio and Innovation Across Key Activations and Stages

InfoComm 2026, a destination for AV, IT, broadcast, and AI-driven systems, annou...

06/03/2026

LTN, MediaKind Partner to Deliver Integrated Reliable IP Transport and Edge Processing

LTN and MediaKind announce a strategic partnership to integrate MediaKind's ...

06/03/2026

X Games Brings First-Ever Summer Championship Event to New Orleans in July

X Games and the Greater New Orleans Sports Foundation (GNOSF) announce that New Orleans, Louisiana, will host the first-ever X Games Championship event - the fi...

06/03/2026

Chyron Releases New Edition of AXIS Maps

As part of a busy start of the year at Chyron, the AXIS team developed a set of improvements for AXIS Maps. The features released empower users with more flexib...

06/03/2026

BeckTV Launches BeckFlow at 2026 NAB Show While Highlighting its Latest Design and Integration Projects

At the 2026 NAB Show, BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast ind...

06/03/2026

Net Insight Sets New Standard for Live Media Operations with Nimbra Live Intelligence

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight introduces Nimbra Live Intelligence, which definin...

06/03/2026

SES Adds New MEO Capacity as Latest O3b mPOWER Satellites Enter Commercial Service

SES announces that it has added new Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite capacity ...

06/03/2026

LucidLink Launches Connect to Extend Instant Access to Data Stores

LucidLink, the cloud-native file streaming platform for instant, secure access to large files, announce LucidLink Connect, a new solution that enables real-time...

06/03/2026

Case Study: Panasonic Projection Brings Paddington to Life in London's West End

Panasonic helped bring the world of Paddington: The Musical to life through imme...

06/03/2026

SVG GameDay, Ep. 6: Cincinnati Bengals' Alex Schweppe - Welcome to the Jungle

In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...

06/03/2026

Ratings Roundup: Post Olympics High, NHL on ESPN Viewership Spikes Over 50%

Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press releases and reports around the industry. In this week's edition, NASCAR Cup Se...

06/03/2026

Riedel Communications Demos Product Innovations at 2026 NAB Show

At the 2026 NAB Show, Riedel Communications opens with a clear message to the North American market: production technology does not have to be complex. This ye...

06/03/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Midco Sports' Andy Price and Craig DeWit on How the Dakotas-Based RSN Is Redefining Regional Sports Media

Midco Sports isn't your typical regional sports network. Backed by nearly a ...

06/03/2026

Inside the Paralympics with OBS Producer Josephine Xiaofan

The stories around the Paralympics are really touching and the athletes, the atmosphere it is all amazing and we want to use new technologies to help us tell th...

06/03/2026

Apple TV Kicks Off F1 Era in U.S. With Driver Tracker, On-Board Cameras, Multiview, Sky Sports Feed

Apple TV subscribers will have access to as many as 30 additional live feeds acr...

06/03/2026

Ten Years On, South African Hip-Hop Artist Kwesta Reflects on DaKAR II'

Ten years after its release, South African hip-hop artist Kwesta's DaKAR II is still making waves. With 51.8 million streams on Spotify, the album continues...

06/03/2026

Statement on the appointment of Dr Nicholas Pappas AM as SBS Chair

Statement on the appointment of Dr Nicholas Pappas AM as SBS Chair Media releases The SBS Board and Executive have welcomed the appointment of Dr Nicholas P...

06/03/2026

Nielsen: 46 Billion Minutes of Women's Sports were Consumed in 2025*

Nielsen Highlights Women's Sports Viewership Milestones Ahead of International Women's Day on March 8 New York March 5, 2026 According to Nielsen&#...

06/03/2026

MXL Moves Into Stable Production Release

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

LTN, MediaKind Partner on Industry Transition From C-Band to IP

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

Roku Unveils 'Roklue' Interactive Content Discovery Feature

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

FCC Releases Tentative Agenda for March Open Meeting

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

ESPN to Air Animated Version of Capitals vs. Rangers NHL Game

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

Tedial to Highlight AI-Fueled Media Lifecycle at 2026 NAB Show

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

06/03/2026

esRadio Advances with DHD RX2 Audio Production Consoles

Spanish FM and online broadcaster esRadio has selected DHD RX2 audio production consoles for use at its studio headquarters in Madrid. Part of the Libertad Digi...

06/03/2026

LucidLink launches Connect to extend instant access to da...

LucidLink, the cloud-native file streaming platform for instant, secure access to large files, today announced LucidLink Connect, a new solution that enables re...

06/03/2026

BeckTV Launches BeckFlow at 2026 NAB Show While Highlight...

At the 2026 NAB Show, BeckTV, a premier systems integrator for the broadcast industry, is launching BeckFlow, the first web-based schematic documentation platfo...

06/03/2026

Net Insight sets a New Standard for Live Media Operations...

At NAB Show 2026, Net Insight introduces Nimbra Live Intelligence defining a new category and setting a new standard for live operations: the Open Media Platfor...

06/03/2026

Interra Systems Focuses on StreamingFirst QC Monitoring a...

At the 2026 NAB Show, Interra Systems will showcase its latest advancements in automated QC, real-time monitoring, and captioning reinforcing its position as ...

06/03/2026

Riedel Communications at 2026 NAB Show

At the 2026 NAB Show, Riedel Communications opens with a clear message to the North American market: production technology does not have to be complex. This yea...

06/03/2026

LTN and MediaKind partner to deliver integrated reliable...

New partnership combines on-prem video processing with reliable IP transport to support the transition from C-Band satellite to IP distribution LTN and MediaKi...

06/03/2026

VEON and JazzWorld Advance Pakistan's Digital Financial Future with Acquisition of TPL Insurance

06 Mar 2026 VEON and JazzWorld Advance Pakistan's Digital Financial Future ...

06/03/2026

Teaser revealed for Saturday Night Live UK

Friday 6 March 2026 Teaser revealed for Saturday Night Live UKTurn on cookies to view this content. Go to Privacy options and select Accept All'. Privacy...

06/03/2026

Announcing 'Barbara - Becoming Shirin David'

Back to All News Announcing Barbara - Becoming Shirin David Entertainment 06 March 2026 GlobalGermany Link copied to clipboard Available exclusively on N...

06/03/2026

F1: Bringing real Formula 1 sound to cinema

Discover how the F1 sound team turned a real Grand Prix into a cinematic experience. Director Joseph Kosinski and his team worked directly with the Formula On...

06/03/2026

Arvato Systems Joins Initiative D21 e. V.

Arvato Systems Joins Initiative D21 e. V. Shaping digital transformation together Collaboration in Germanys largest network for the digital society Membersh...

06/03/2026

ABC clients recognised in latest TAG certification release, reinforcing industry trust in digital advertising

The Trustworthy Accountability Group (TAG) is a global initiative dedicated to c...

06/03/2026

Death of John McHugh

We are deeply saddened to hear the very sad news of the death of our friend and colleague, John McHugh. John was an exceptionally talented creative leader who s...

06/03/2026

A Nation Holds Its Breath Again

First exclusive look at RT 's promo as Ireland prepare to take on Czechia Every Moment, Every Generation https://youtu.be/2ijo96EadLU 36 years after Geor...

06/03/2026

March 05, 2026

A new clue to how the body detects physical force Scripps Research scientists offer new insight into how the body detects light touch and how disruptions in tha...

05/03/2026

SVG GFX Forum Draws 250+ Industry Pros To Talk Creative Philosphy, AR/XR, Future of Live Sports Graphics

More than 250 sports-graphics professionals packed into The Cutting Room in New ...

05/03/2026

Cosm Atlanta Set to Open at Centennial Yards on June 10

Cosm announces that it will open its third immersive entertainment venue at downtown Atlanta's Centennial Yards on June 10, 2026. Its first public event wil...

05/03/2026

The CW Network to Broadcast Six Banana Ball Games During 2026 Season

Following last year's broadcast television debut, The CW Network is growing its partnership with the Savannah Bananas, announcing that it will be the exclus...