2.
Background:
2.1. Overview of Film Industry:
The film industry is still a particularly new medium in the entertainment industry, created in the late
1800s. The first known camera that creates the illusion of moving pictures was called ‘Kinetograph’,
invented and patented by Thomas Alva Edison in 1891 (Govan, 2023). However, the first true pioneer of
the film camera is the Lumiere Brothers who jointly made the first motion picture in 1895 (Pruitt, 2014).
Since then, the film industry has started booming at rocket speed without the fear of dropping into the
ground. Every country of the world has a known film industry. Some of them included the Indian Film
Industry (Bollywood), the Chinese Film Industry, the Japanese Film Industry etc. But the biggest film
industry in the world is and always has been the USA Film Industry, commonly known as Hollywood.
2.2. Overview of Hollywood:
Hollywood became the pioneer of American Cinema when filmmakers moved there in early 1910s to
evade lawsuits from Thomas Alva Edison (U-S-History,com, 2014). Since then, Hollywood has been
intertwined with film industry all around the world (GOMERY, 1996). Recently, usage of AI has
skyrocketed in Hollywood. In every step of filmmaking, there is AI involved. Be it script writing, visual
effects, sound effects or even acting. The excessive use of AI in Hollywood has thus raised the question
about how much the employment will be affected by it and whether there is any way to prevent
unemployment in Hollywood.
2.3. Overview of Unemployment:
Unemployment means people over a certain age without a job, who are available for works but cannot
find any. It is measured by the unemployment rate that is calculated through the number of people who
are unemployed as a percentage of the labor force (OECD Statistics, n.d.). One of the main causes for
unemployment is new technologies and inventions. From 1991 to 2024, the unemployed population
increased from 115.64 million to 210.94 million (O'Neil, 2023).
2.4. Unemployment as a Wicked Problem:
Of all the crisis the world is facing right now, unemployment is on top of the chart. It has affected the
film industry as much as any other industry. Recently, unemployment has increased in Hollywood
because of covid-19 pandemic and labor strikes. At least 8,90,000 people lost their jobs during the
pandemic (Gardner, 2020). The unemployment rate had also increased 4.5% during that time (Terrell,
2021). Then the labor strike hit in 2023. Another 17% people of Hollywood lost their jobs because of the
strikes (Maas, 2023). Because of unemployment, people had to move away from their homes. They
cannot even buy the basic items needed to feed a family. Unemployment causes both psychological and
social problems. Around 56% of unemployed people suffer from depression (Farnsworth, 2023). The
people also turn to crime because of unemployment. So, society goes into further chaos. That is why
unemployment is a wicked problem in modern age.
2.5. Artificial Intelligence and its Impact on Unemployment in Hollywood:
Artificial intelligence or AI is one of the major megatrends in the current world. It has started a
revolution in Hollywood. Previously it would take a studio to make a sci-fi film at least 1-2 years. But
currently, by using AI the same studio can make 3-4 sci-fi films per year. That is why, superhero films have
tripled now than ever before. AI has also revolutionized TV series. Recently, the younger version of Luke
Skywalker in The Mandalorian and Young Audrey Hepburn in a commercial have astonished every
viewer. But it is not always a rosy path for using AI in film industry. Studios can now use deepfake
performances without the actor’s consents. They can also use AI to write scripts for big budgeted
movies. So, the idea of Actors and Writers have the chance of being obsolete. This was one of the main
reasons why the strike occurred in 2023. (Watercutter, 2023) Because the studios can be seen using an
actor’s face and voice without his permission and is not obliged to pay them. If this continues, it will be
not long before there will be no physical actors and writers in Hollywood. Because of AI, the major
studios have also been able to show thrilling stunts without the danger. So, the need for stuntmen have
decreased dramatically. AI has also taken away manual labor jobs. Thus, AI has negatively impacted the
workforce of Hollywood.
2.6. AI and its Positive Impact on Hollywood:
At the end of the day, the general people only care about the product of entertainment. They want more
content and faster. So, the major studios are heeding to their needs. For example, from 1970s to early
2000s, there were only 6 Star Wars movies. But as the usage of AI has increased, in the last decade
alone, there was another 5 live-action movies with additional live-action and animated TV series as well
as numerous podcasts and digital contents, helping to build a notable franchise altogether. AI has also
helped to increase safety among workers. Previously, many people died while doing shooting for
dangerous scenes. Now AI has allowed filmmakers to shoot dangerous scenes without the real danger. AI
has also allowed for actors to appear in movies while being not available. The most notable example of
this is Robert Downey Jr. in Iron Man 3 who was out for 2 months because of a foot injury. But the studio
was able to complete the film by using AI at a greater length. Even the audience of the movies did not
understand that the real actor is not there (Sampson, 2013) Despite taking away manual jobs, AI has
created tech jobs for lots of people as in order to use AI, a human is needed. So, currently Hollywood is
full of tech people who is contributing to the industry into moving forward as a tech-labor force in
accordance with the rest of the world. Furthermore, AI has made planning and co-ordination in the film
industry much easier than before. It can be said with a surety that AI will continue building more
innovative and greater cinematic experience for the viewers in the near future.
