Andrey Fadeev, CEO of GDEV, the Nasdaq-listed European game development holding. Strong advocate of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.
Do you remember your first experience with ChatGPT? It often felt like talking to Dory, the forgetful fish. But last year, ChatGPT received a memory. What I want to say is that AI learns and develops fast.
Today, AI is more than just an assistant automating daily routines. It goes much further and wears many hats; it can be a director, composer, storyteller, game designer and sometimes even an influencer. Entertainment transforms in real time. From music tailored to your mood to movies created by AI, the line between human and machine creativity is blurring.
The new possibilities look so exciting, but are we ready for what comes next?
The Economics Of AI In Media And Entertainment
Should we admit the fact that generative AI adoption is a necessity for the entertainment industry? According to Google Cloud research, 64% of media and entertainment executives have already implemented generative AI in production. Among them, 72% have seen an ROI from at least one AI initiative. The generative AI market for media and entertainment is projected to reach $11.57 billion by 2033, at a CAGR of 26.3%.
This is not the first time new technologies have forced entertainment and media leaders to rethink or disrupt their business models. Video streaming services now outperform traditional TV with customizable libraries and flexible subscription options. Personalized content coupled with targeted ads are increasing viewer engagement and retention.
Music streaming services are also already using AI in their recommendation systems. They look to soon even use generative AI to create playlists for coffee shops and gyms. With startups like Suno, it’s possible to create entire songs in seconds based on simple text prompts.
AI is changing the gaming landscape as well with more realistic NPCs and immersive environments that can dynamically adapt to player style, behavior and preferences.
How AI Reimagines Entertainment
Last year, NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang predicted that fully AI-generated games would appear within 5 to 10 years. So, how far have we come with generative AI-generated entertainment? Here is a survey of how it is being used across entertainment industries:
Videogames
The AI version of Minecraft is generated in real time by a training model, Oasis (Decart and Etched AI companies), which sorted out the physics, environments and controls of the game from this data alone.
GameNGen’s Neural Network Engine learns from existing titles like Doom, generating new levels and gameplay dynamically. Every session feels fresh, thanks to diffusion-based AI models similar to those used in image creation. This promising technology still faces high computational costs and extensive training data requirements.
In Roblox, users can generate entire environments, characters and mechanics simply by describing their vision. AI-generated Lua scripting automates game physics and interactions, making game development more accessible than ever.
Film And Video
Generative AI tools are widely used to de-age actors, create visual effects and perform voice cloning. For example, in the Oscar-nominated movie The Brutalist, the actors Jones and Brody speak Hungarian without an accent thanks to AI voice generation. The creative team could speed up the already lengthy 18-month post-production of the movie.
AI movie festivals are also appearing. And the traditional ones, like the Tribeca Film Festival, in collaboration with Runway, screened some of the most creative examples of AI-generated short films and music videos.
Music
Platforms like Soundraw, Mubert and AIVA enable anyone to compose music without formal training.
AI is used by popular musicians as well. For example, BTS’s K-pop label HYBE records uses the technology to help track in multiple languages. These tools are also great for demos and music discovery, as well as personalized recommendations.
AI possesses incredible capabilities, but it still can’t manage complex game design decisions or creative direction. But I don’t think we can say that AI is replacing human capabilities—rather, it is improving them.
The Other Side Of Generative AI Usage
Benefits brought by technology are clear, but what’s on the other side of the coin? The GDC 2025 State of the Game Industry report states that 30% of developers said they believe generative AI has a negative impact on the gaming industry, up 12% from last year. Among the main reasons for dissatisfaction are intellectual property theft, energy consumption, reduced quality of AI-generated content, potential bias in AI programs and regulatory concerns.
And although I think, in a lager context, AI will only enhance capabilities rather than replace workers, many see generative AI as posing a threat to jobs. The screenwriters’ strike was the first major battle between workers and AI. Yet, after a five-month strike, the screenwriters can decide for themselves whether they will use generative AI as a tool to help and complement rather than replace their work.
As a part of this, voice actors are facing competition from generative AI clones. Along with people like Scarlett Johansson demanding OpenAI to stop using her voice in its AI products, regular voice actors working on commercials, audiobooks and video games fear loss or work to cheaper AI-generated voices.
Many AI models have been criticized for using copyrighted or personal data without appropriate consent. Image-generation models like DALL-E and Midjourney were trained on copyrighted artwork. NVIDIA came under fire for training its AI models on videos from YouTube and Netflix without permission.
AI’s Role In The Future Of Entertainment
GitHub Copilot changed software development by suggesting code in real time. I see the same happening within the entertainment industry. Directors, musicians and writers who collaborate with AI can help push the boundaries of creativity further than ever before. I think it’s only a matter of time before personalized entertainment will dominate. In the end, though, people will only pay for what really resonates with them.
As far as specific tools, I believe there won’t be a dominance of one AI model because they are designed for different purposes. It’s all about the choice of tools that feel right for the job—efficient, intuitive and aligned with your purpose.
I think the future of entertainment hinges on how humans and machines can create something extraordinary together.
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