Artificial Intelligence in Entertainment Among Hot Topics at Focus 2023

variety.com:

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Focus, the end-of-year meeting place for the international production community, returns to London as a live event Dec.

5-6. With over 60 conference sessions and more than 150 expert speakers, the event’s ninth edition remains free to attend for industry professionals and embraces the increasing convergence of all screen sectors, gathering thousands of attendees across film, TV, advertising, animation, games and XR. “From the first few months of the year, we could feel that Focus was attracting more and more interest from the makers of all the creative screen industries,” says Jean-Frederic Garcia, managing director of Focus. “There is tangible growing interest in the event and we are very excited to be about to open the biggest Focus ever by quite a margin.” This year’s Focus conference program, presented in association with Variety, will reflect on key industry talking points of the year, from the challenges of financing projects in turbulent times to navigating new technology, creating content sustainably and nurturing new talent.

A prominent topic in this year’s conference program is artificial intelligence. Three sessions will focus on the subject of AI: “The Write Approach: How Can AI and Humans Hold Hands,” “AI: Who Watches the Watchmen?

The Legal and Ethical Issues,” and “Revolutionizing the Art of Imagination: AI in VFX and Animation.” “I think talking about AI is extremely important,” says Garcia. “AI is not a trend, it is a very fast-growing side of the digital world that will have such a huge impact on the industries and our lives — it is difficult to understand.