New Study on AI in the Media Industry

AI study analyzes 200 case studies from the media industry
Media industries are adopting generative AI at varying speeds
Effective protection of content rights is key for media companies

Gütersloh, May 21, 2024 – The global media industry has been quick to recognize the potential of Gen-AI tools, and is implementing innovative solutions in the various media businesses. Generative AI is being adopted at different speeds in different media industries and is therefore at different stages of progress. These are the findings of a new study published by Bertelsmann, the international media, services and education company. Enders Analysis and Arthur D. Little are partners in the study, which examines more than 200 industry-specific examples of the use of artificial intelligence (AI). It also analyzes the different AI models, their potential applications, and their impact on business processes in the media industry.

Thomas Rabe, Chairman and CEO of Bertelsmann, said: "The study illustrates the impact of artificial intelligence on the media industry and how extensively the media industry is already using AI. If we use generative AI responsibly, it will mark the beginning of a new era of creativity and innovation. For this, it is crucial to put in place effective copyright regulations to protect and appropriately renumerate our creators and investments in creativity.”

The new study concludes that the media industry is using AI primarily to optimize business processes, generate marketing content, and implement new services. This is true across the four media sectors studied: broadcasting, marketing, publishing, and recorded music. The study shows that the introduction of generative AI models in the individual sectors is taking place at different points in the value chain, at different speeds, and is therefore at different stages of progress. This situation results in specific challenges and opportunities for each segment of the industry.

In the music industry, artificial intelligence is enabling advances in areas such as music production, composition, and marketing. Key players are actively implementing AI-driven solutions. In contrast, the film and TV industry has been slow to adopt AI applications, as the industry took an “innovation pause” during the 2023 writers’ and actors’ strikes to reflect on the role of AI in the creative process. The film and TV industry has focused primarily on improving content recommendation algorithms and automating certain aspects of production and postproduction, such as localization, lip-syncing, and background effects.

In book publishing, generative AI has mainly been used to automatically generate content for marketing and personalized recommendations. Here, too, the technology’s impact on the creative process remains limited. The advertising and marketing industry, on the other hand, has been much quicker to adopt generative AI applications for targeted marketing, ad personalization, and performance analysis.

The speed at which generative AI applications are adopted in the various media industries depends largely on the challenges and opportunities specific to each industry, as well as the willingness of executives to invest in and deploy AI solutions.

You can find the study on our homepage: State of Play: Exploring Generative AI‘s Transformative Effects on the Media & Entertainment Industry

About Bertelsmann
Bertelsmann is a media, services and education company with more than 80.000 employees, that operates in about 50 countries around the world. It includes the entertainment group RTL Group, the trade book publisher Penguin Random House, the music company BMG, the service provider Arvato Group, Bertelsmann Marketing Services, the Bertelsmann Education Group and Bertelsmann Investments, an international network of funds. The company generated revenues of €20.2 billion in the 2023 financial year. Bertelsmann stands for creativity and entrepreneurship. This combination promotes first-class media content and innovative service solutions that inspire customers around the world. Bertelsmann aspires to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.