How Is AI Affecting the Reality TV Industry?

As with all industries, artificial intelligence (AI) has started making its way into the reality television space, introducing new ways for monotonous administrative tasks to be automated, on the one hand, as well as creating the potential for a complete transformation of the industry.

Indeed, AI is being used to make the lives of employees within production companies easier by taking over some of their more simple tasks like transcription and storyline ideation.

In addition to these simple tasks, advanced AI is now being used in more complex parts of the production process to do things like assess audience reactions and evaluate contestant interview videos. This means that not only do producers now have more time and professional capacity to focus on other parts of their jobs, but the entire process more generally is significantly more streamlined than ever before.

In these contexts, there’s no doubt that AI has been a helpful tool in the reality TV industry. However, there are other ways in which AI can, and is, starting to be used in the industry, by both contestants (potential and current) and producers, that isn’t quite as universally supported. That is, shows that are actually completely based on AI, manipulating contestants or making use of realistic deepfakes.

Clearly, the use of AI in the reality TV industry is a double-edged sword, creating an immense amount of potential while also introducing a new perspective on the idea of “reality”.

Stick with us while we explore the variety of different ways in which AI is being used in the reality television industry, as well as some examples of shows that revolve around the use of AI.

 

How is AI Being Used in the Reality TV Industry?

 

As we’ve mentioned, there are a few main ways AI is used in reality TV to automate and streamline tedious tasks and to create a brand new style of reality television, basing the entire structure and storyline on artificial intelligence-fueled systems. The other consideration is the ways in which reality TV stars themselves are using AI in their careers.

Use of AI in the Production of Reality TV

One of the most popular applications of AI across industries is to automate time-consuming processes, so how is this done in reality TV?

• Transcribing Audio: AI software can be used to transcribe audio from footage, creating subtitles for audiences. Without this software, transcription is incredibly time-consuming, so being able to use AI in this way will improve accuracy and save time which, as a result, will save production companies money in the long run.

 

• Translation and Dubbing: It’s now possible for AI to be used to translate audio and use deepfake AI technology to effectively dub the footage – this allows audio to be translated into different languages, making it more accessible and available to larger audiences. Most significantly, deepfake technology helps improve the quality of the dubbing, so that the translation doesn’t detract from the quality of the footage.

 

• Evaluating Applicant Interviews: A big part of the casting process in reality television is sifting through applications and contestant interviews, making evaluations on whether or not to cast individuals, which is incredibly time-consuming. However, AI can now sift through these applications and videos for casting directors, automatically eliminating certain applicants based on predetermined criteria, and highlighting the most promising applicants. With this technology, applications can be ordered according to their relative quality, helping producers save time and avoid missing good potential contestants.

 

• Assessing Audience Reactions: A big part of the reality TV industry is assessing audience reactions to episodes in order to gain insight into what is and isn’t successful. With this information, they can improve the content being produced and make sure viewers are getting what they want. Previously, this was done by humans, which allows a lot of room for interpretation and takes time – thus, AI removes the need for experienced employees to make these analyses and removes a significant amount of subjectivity, making the process more consistent.

 

• Storyline Ideation: Making reality TV is all about keeping things interesting, and using AI is a great way to come up with interesting ideas, storylines and more. AI technology can be used to do this by means of prompts and by feeding the software existing information about viewership statistics and more.

Reality Stars Using AI

 

In addition to the ways in which producers are using AI to streamline their production processes, reality stars are also using AI technology in their own careers.

One way they’re doing this is by digitally altering their online social media presence, improving their appearance, so to speak, in the hope of being scouted by casting agents for reality television shows. Many professionals from the casting side of the industry have expressed frustration in the difficulties that this creates in finding “real”, authentic people for these roles.

Another way in which reality television stars are using AI is once they’ve already gained fame. More and more celebrities are using AI and deepfake technology to create personalised interactive experiences between themselves and fans (or customers, since many of them go on to become business owners in various industries).

For instance, Jill Zarin, who gained fame on “Housewives of New York City” and now owns several different lifestyle brands, is using AI technology to allow customers to ask her questions online – customers then receive personalised responses from Jill via either text or voice recordings. This is an excellent example of how reality TV stars have been able to monetise their fame using artificial intelligence.

 

AI Being Used As a Component of the Design of Reality TV Shows

 

The other factor we mentioned is arguably the most extreme use of AI in the world of reality TV – that is, using AI not as a mere tool to improve efficiency, but placing AI tech at the center of shows altogether.

That means the entire idea of the show and how it works revolves around the use of AI. Here are some examples:

 

• The Circle: A glorified reality TV show popularity contest, The Circle involves a series of contestants living in separate locations with no contact outside of the official show channels. Contestants get to know each other and the objective is for them to rate each other. At the end of the competition, the contestant with the highest rating wins. Contestants are allowed t either be themselves or completely make up brand-new personalities. To make things more interesting, however, producers have introduced a new character – a chatbot pretending to be a human. As a result, contestants have no idea who is real and who is fake.

 

• L.O.V.E. AI: “L.O.V.E. AI” is a Japanese reality TV dating show based on couples who are paired up – the show follows their relationships and the relative successes and failures of each relationship. However, the twist is that the couples are paired up based on AI technology – the software uses information provided about each person to create so-called “perfect matches”. Essentially, people who should be perfect together – on paper, that is. “L.O.V.E. AI” allows for an interesting look at the relative importance of common interests and objective compatibility as opposed to simply getting on with someone – the human factor that we simply can’t put our finger on.

 

AI Meets Reality TV: What Can We Expect of This Partnership in the Future?

 

There’s no doubt about the fact that AI has already proven to be a beneficial tool in the reality TV industry, from automating tedious processes to ideation and more.

As is happening across other industries, the use of AI in reality TV is becoming increasingly prolific, and it seems reasonable to assume that over time, we’ll start seeing more and more shows that use AI as a core component of the design of their shows, rather than just a helpful tool.

So, does that mean that simulated shows will take over and reduce the “reality” of reality television even more than has already happened? It’s hard to say, but the industry certainly seems to be moving in that direction, using more and more AI to create unique show concepts and make competitions unpredictable.