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>
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
06/09/2026
June 9 2026, 23:00 (PDT) Dolby and MagentaTV Bring Fans Closer to the FIFA Worl...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
06/07/2026
Long-developed relationships and informal access, three production models, and c...
06/07/2026
The deal follows Lumine's recent acquisition of Synamedia's video-networ...
06/07/2026
This former SportsCenter producer is shaping local-team studio coverage to surro...
06/07/2026
IMS Productions and FOX Sports deployed more than 100 cameras, 32 onboard feeds,...
06/07/2026
Lumine Group Inc. has announced the completion of its acquisition of the Video Network Business from Synamedia. The business will operate as a standalone compan...
06/07/2026
NASCAR has announced a content and commercial partnership with Motorsport Network, a motorsports and automotive media platform, to distribute NASCAR original co...
06/07/2026
Versant Media Group has announced a definitive agreement to acquire Full Swing, a sports technology company, from Bruin Capital and a group of minority investor...
06/07/2026
DAZN has announced global broadcast rights to 3ICE, a professional hockey format featuring three skaters and a goalkeeper per side, with no power plays or offsi...
06/07/2026
Bundle gains 100 new synths & more
Synth Anthology 5 the largest and most feature-packed edition of UVI's hardware synth emulation bundle, bringing toge...
06/07/2026
Available now via free firmware update
MOTU have just announced that three of their popular audio interfaces now boast official Milan Certification. The 16A...
06/07/2026
Rohde & Schwarz completes Hunter Preliminary Design Review for the Integrated Co...
06/07/2026
The R&S IMAGER from Rohde & Schwarz uses millimeter wave imaging to inspect the ...
06/07/2026
The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF), an agency of the Department of Sp...
06/07/2026
Digital Domain Appoints Industry Veteran Patrick Davenport as Executive Vice Pre...
06/07/2026
Gravity Media USA appoints Brittney Boston as Head of Business Development
Brie Clayton July 6, 2026
0 Comments
The strategic new appointment supports...
06/07/2026
Remote Editing Without Cloud Storage in Resolve
Michael Cioni July 6, 2026
0 Comments
This is a step-by-step guide that demonstrates how to setup your...
06/07/2026
Automatic Caption Translation in Adobe Premiere Pro
Colin Smith July 6, 2026
0 Comments
Here I showcase the innovative automatic caption translation f...
06/07/2026
Flavor's First Ever Managing Director Neal Cohen Retires; Longstanding Execu...
06/07/2026
How Adam Rosenwach Pivoted from Music to Medtech Without Missing a Beat What do the rehearsal room and the boardroom have in common? More than you might think...
06/07/2026
Zhongyi Optics unveils the Dreamy Zone T1 FF Cine Lens Series on Indiegogo with ...
06/07/2026
Techtel debuts insyght: making ST 2110 media discovery easy
intellisphereinsyght2026
6 July Written By Suzanne Costello
Sydney, Australia - 06 July 2026 T...
06/07/2026
Monday 6 July 2026
Sky agrees to acquire ITV Media & Entertainment, creating a ...
06/07/2026
Fresh from his World Cup heroics with Cabo Verde, Roberto Pico' Lopes will join the RT panel for Argentina v Egypt tomorrow and for the England v Norway q...
06/07/2026
Nations have long invested in domestic infrastructure to advance their economies, protect and use their data, and take advantage of technology opportunities in ...
06/07/2026
Every year, the International Conference on Machine Learning (ICML) reveals where thousands of AI researchers have decided to put their work.
This year's ...
06/07/2026
A death can be unsuspicious, but it has to be explained
What happened to Ke...
05/07/2026
We've gone to another level of integrating the graphics into the set architecture' - Zac Fields, SVP, Graphic Technology and Integration, FOX Sports...
05/07/2026
Browser-based and desktop apps available
Digital Sunset Studios have been busy working on an interesting project: a free software tool that provides compute...
04/07/2026
When Canada qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2026, OneSoccer knew this wasn'...
04/07/2026
Celebrates company's 80th anniversary
Rhodes have recently revealed that they will be producing a limited run of electric pianos in celebration of their...
04/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Cameras Empower Youth Broadcasting Program
Brie Clayton July 3, 2026
0 Comments
Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6K Pro and Blackmagi...
04/07/2026
iZotope Joins Boris FX
Boris Yamnitsky July 3, 2026
0 Comments
iZotope, the team behind RX and Ozone, is joining Boris FX. A letter from founder Boris...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
03/07/2026
New bundle & three Single Packs
Continuing to expand their already sizeable orchestral collection, VSL's latest release introduces three new Single Pack...
03/07/2026
Venue installs new ATC-equipped control room
LSO St Luke's, a unique music venue that also serves as the home of the London Symphony Orchestra, have rec...
03/07/2026
Caden Pearson appointed new Commissioning Editor for NITV
3 July, 2026
Media releases
National Indigenous Television (NITV) has strengthened its commitment...
03/07/2026
1 February 2023
SHARE Facebook Twitter Linkedin Email
Munich, Germany, 1st February 2023: Cinegy GmbH, the premier provider of software technology for digit...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
03/07/2026
Death Star
Andy Marken July 2, 2026
0 Comments
Look, I can't get involved. I've got work to do. It's not that I like the Empire; I hate i...
03/07/2026
Berklee's New Visual Identity: Honoring Our History, Building for What's...
03/07/2026
Scripps Research scientists awarded $2M to advance global disease surveillance Two Gates Foundation grants will expand wastewater surveillance and AI-driven dis...
03/07/2026
Joan Pulupa joins Scripps Research faculty to study the organization of DNA in brain cells and its links to neurodegeneration Using smell-sensing neurons and ad...
02/07/2026
Entering her senior year, this hometown girl is paving a career in live sports production gaining experience in replay and audio and as a TD
In the live-sports...
02/07/2026
In-venue and creative video staffers at the professional and collegiate level ha...
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
