The notion of artificial intelligence supplanting human creativity has long been a speculative fear, but for Edward Saatchi, CEO of Fable Studio, it's an imminent reality and a groundbreaking opportunity. Saatchi’s company, backed by Amazon, is pioneering Showrunner, an AI platform poised to revolutionize entertainment by generating entire TV episodes and films from simple text prompts, earning it the moniker "Netflix of AI."
Saatchi recently appeared on CNBC's Squawk Box, where he spoke with Becky Quick and Joe Kernen about the platform's capabilities, its potential impact on the entertainment industry, and the evolving dynamics between AI and human artistry.
The interview opened with a striking demonstration: an AI-generated segment of "Squawk Box" itself, featuring animated hosts and a skeletal AGI guest named Alan. Saatchi explained that this was produced without human input, with the AI generating the content based on a simple prompt. He envisions a future where viewers will simply "ask for the television show that you'd like to watch or for the film that you'd like to watch, and it will generate that for you," allowing users to input script lines or even insert themselves or their families into personalized narratives.
A key differentiator for Showrunner is its unprecedented speed. Unlike other video models that take many minutes to produce mere seconds of footage, Fable Studio's AI generates content in "the same amount of time as the clip" itself.
This efficiency underpins a transformative shift in content creation, moving beyond mere tools to establish AI as a new artistic medium. Saatchi provocatively suggests that "what's coming is a world where we're not the only creative species," implying a collaborative future where AI-generated entertainment will be as commonplace and enjoyed as human-created works. He further asserts that AI is not just a tool, but "a new medium," capable of creativity.
The economic implications are profound, especially concerning intellectual property. While acknowledging initial resistance—one studio head warned, "I’ll do everything in my power to stop you"—Saatchi now sees Hollywood "getting much more excited" about monetization. He proposes a model where studios license their "storyworlds," allowing users to generate new scenes or episodes from beloved franchises like Star Wars, with revenue flowing back to the original IP holders.
This paradigm shift redefines creativity, moving from a singular human effort to an expansive, AI-augmented ecosystem. It presents a future where the sheer volume and personalization of entertainment could explode, offering immense opportunities for IP owners to unlock new revenue streams and for a new generation of digital artists to explore this burgeoning medium.
