The Digital Hollywood AI Summer Summit

Monday, July 22 - Thursday, July 25, 2024

The Defining Event: The Future of Entertainment, Media & Technology

A Virtual Event • Registration is Free to All Attendees - An Expected Audience of 12,000

• Speakers Note: Some Sessions will be Taped Prior to the Event - Please check with your moderator

The Evening Keynote Roundtables

Monday, July 22nd, 2024

8:00 PM – 8:50 PM: Eastern Time Zone

The 21^st Century Boom = AI & the US Economy: R&D + Investment + Strategic Rollout

Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA, has stated, "Artificial intelligence is unquestionably the most powerful technology force the world has ever known.” And Marc Andreessen, General Partner of Andreessen Horowitz has said, “AI will save the world.” During the four days of this conference, we will meet the hundreds of executives in the Entertainment, Technology and Advertising industries, executives and creatives who, if the prognosticators are correct, will lead the organizations, the teams of artists and executives, that will be a part of the greatest innovative and transformative force of the 21^st Century.

9:00 PM - 9:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session I:

AI and Safety: Governance and Restraint vs. Industry Self-Regulation
AI didn’t arrive in the past 18 months. For nearly twenty years, AI has steadily become a technological societal force, serving as a backbone to the Medical Imaging community, directing traffic on the internet and regulating electrical power grids across the country and making possible self-driving cars. However, with the arrival of Generative AI and the anticipation of AGI, Artificial General Intelligence, and massive surge in technology investment and company valuations, there is deep concern that the exuberance of discovery will lead to an unwelcome future. We welcome this conversation.

9:00 PM - 9:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session II:

AI and the Crisis of Creative Rights: Deep Fakes, Ethics and the Law

Even with the successful resolution of the Entertainment industry “Guilds” strike of 2023, there remains an ongoing fear that "artificial intelligence poses an existential threat to creative professions." The core AI issue sparking debate in Hollywood is not only based on compensation and creative control production. Deep fake technology in particular has raised concern about potential harmful uses, such as political disinformation, revenge porn, and misuse of intellectual property. At the same time, many “creatives” tout the game changing benefits this technology can bring to artistic and other endeavors, such as educational opportunities, enhanced freedom of expression and reduced barriers to entry. This panel will discuss these competing concerns and whether existing legal frameworks, such as right of publicity, copyright, and existing regulations, are sufficient to address this powerful technology.

Tuesday, July 23th, 2024

9:00 PM - 9:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session I:

Tech Giants vs. Billion-Dollar Startups: What Happened to the Danger of Monopolies?

The issue AI and Monopolies, bring to bear so many fascinating issues, case studies and examples to the greater subject of Monopoly. As we are aware, all the major tech companies are deeply invested in AI: Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Google, Meta, IBM and Adobe, not to mention the Chip companies, NVIDIA, Intel, AMD and Qualcomm to name a few. And then there are the AI Billion-Dollar Startups: OpenAI, Anthropic, Inception AI, Databricks, Mistral AI and that’s not to mention the many AI start-ups that we read about everyday; Synthesia, Runway, Pika Labs, Character AI, Hugging Face & Perplexity AI. Which companies are deploying Monopoly power and if the industry is approaching 50 major and 250 minor AI powers, how do we discover “Monopolies.” 

Wednesday, July 24th, 2024

8:00 PM - 8:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session II:

A Meditation on Bad Hollywood: A Warning from the Creative Community – “Is the Future Synthetic Entertainment”
While the “Strikes” of 2023 may have been settled, with a well negotiated and robust consideration of all things AI, nevertheless, even with the AI guardrails in place, the feeling among creatives and for good reason, continues as the “unknown impact” of AI remains front and center in our industry and for the future of creativity and entertainment. Reflecting on this past year’s “Writers’ and SAG-AFTRA Strike,” Justine Bateman, was one among many in Hollywood expressing concern for our coming “Synthetic Entertainment Future.” To quote from her Newsweek article, Bateman was passionate and direct, “AI stands for Artificial Intelligence, but I refer to it as "Automatic Imitation." In short, AI is an algorithm that is fed a wealth of information and given a task, and it then delivers the result based on the information it's been fed . . . AI is being used in the Arts for greed, trained on all our past work.” In this session, we will continue the conversation concerning “All-Things AI,” the conversation that likely will never end.

9:00 PM - 10:00 PM - Eastern Time Zone

AI Global Monopolies or Benign MegaTechs vs. The Role of Government: FTC, DOJ and EU
Brilliant business minds, legal scholars and prominent government regulators, representing political views from left leaning to right, representing countries from the EU and UK, the US to China are currently engaged in a process that may well determine the future of Artificial Intelligence, Quantum Computing and other advanced technologies which will impact the US and in turn the global economy. Much of the decision making will be based on interpretations of monopolies and restraint of innovation. While the discussion may seem academic and hypothetical, may well in the not too distant future, have significant impact on all our lives.

The Complete Conference Agenda (The Daytime Events)

Tuesday, July 23rd, 2024

1 PM – 1:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session I:

As Johnny Rotten Might Say: AI Music – Bollocks Sí or Bollocks No? 

Some say, AI is different. This technology may be black magic and maybe they’re right. But what about Sampling and Looping, Sequencers, Drum Machines and Beat Makers, Software synths and the Moog. How about the first time you became aware of the Wah Wah pedal? Does the music of Hendrix, Clapton or Zappa come to mind? The magical world of “Music and Technology” has enabled and enhanced the greatest of our popular musicians and producers for more than half a century. What is the role of the “Recorder Producer?” What about “The Wall of Sound?” What are the Beatles without George Martin, the master of “Audio Wizardry!” What would Johnny Rotten say about “Music and AI.” Let’s discuss.

2 PM – 2:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session II:

AI and Identity Theft - A Taylor Swift Law – The Deep Fake Dilemma

“Deep Fakes” are not only a theft of property rights and a concern of Musicians and Hollywood personalities, bad-actors are scheming new, inventive and technologically bizarre ways to invade our privacy, our computer data and ultimately our electronic wallets. This is not a false alarm. While a “Taylor Swift Law” is needed to protect the personage of a pop star, it may be even more important to secure the personal electronic rights of everyday citizens. Recently in Hong Kong, a “Deep Fake” scheme successfully defrauded an investment company of $25 Million in a fraudulent Zoom call with visual impersonators representing colleagues. That Zoom call might have been you and a “Deep Faked” family member. 

4 PM – 4:40 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session III:

AI & the Creative Community – Representing the Interest of Actors - Writers - Producers - Guild Members

While the Hollywood strikes last year may now be old news, the concerns of the Guild membership, the writers and actors are far from settled. After all, creative concerns cannot always be resolved through arbitration and legal settlement. The underlying issues of Artificial Intelligence, from Deep Fakes, Virtual Humans and the ultimate ability of the AI to reason, think and author creative works is far from settled fact. Who among us can say what the future might hold. For those of you who have tried AI or perhaps have even become “Expert” in AI application, you are aware of the problems it may present. AI can as easily violate copyright of everything from image to story to voice as it can enhance the creativity of the most sophisticated artist. This our world to explore.

5:00 PM – 5:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session II:

The Elvis Act: The Tennessee Deep Fake 2024 Law

Is this the first of many, a prelude to a “Federal Law” or an interesting step to secure the “Individual Rights in the face of Deep Fakes,” serving as a bellwether for future legislation, but ultimately not the final word on the subject. Tennessee’s “Ensuring Likeness Voice and Image Security (ELVIS) Act” passed earlier by their state legislature this year and exclusively limited to Tennessee residents is directed specifically to the issues of “Deep Fakes” and to the protection of Recording Artists and others impacted by “Voice Cloning” and other AI technologies. In this session, our speakers will address the specifics of “The Elvis Act,” with the thought that this piece of legislation is likely a “Canary in a Coal Mine,” one of the first legislative steps that may indicate of how public and political sympathies could be harbingers of AI legislation and legal decisions coming in the future.

Session III:

AI and Consumer Privacy & Safety: The Unrecognized Dangers in Everyday Technology

Not unlike the problematic impact of “Social Media,” plus powerful SmartPhones enabling negative echo chambers which enhance for many and especially among the young, personal depression, and even self-harm, AI with an entirely different set of psychological and technological tools, presents a host of new problems. While we are all quite aware of “Deep Fakes,” and how they can be used to invade privacy, innovative AI consumer technologies like “AI Sunglasses” with hidden audio and video recording capabilities, for a teen in a school or social setting may present privacy problems as well. AI carries a host of unfamiliar risks. Facial analysis tools are often less accurate than we had hoped. And chatbots, which our teens interact with as friends, can at times exhibit unusual behavior. As innovation continues accelerating, we must evaluate if convenience overrules emerging dangers.

Wednesday, July 24^th, 2024

Noon - 12:50 Eastern Time Zone

Session II:

Is AI Music the Piracy Machine? As Brian May has Stated, “It’s Gonna Get Very Weird Very Quick”

Let's take an AI Music test. Google “Best in AI Music Deep Fakes” and you will be taken on an amazing tour of “Music Imposters,” including “Deep Fakes” of Britney Spears, Frank Sinatra singing obscene Rap Lyrics; the infamous Drake/The Weeknd, “Heart on My Sleeve” became a massive hit in a few days and Freddie Mercury singing "All I Want for Christmas” was a “Perfect Clone” of a Queen performance. And the technology behind AI song generators are becoming dangerously professional. It’s no wonder that Brian May, Queen’s lead guitarist and song writer is quoted having said, “It’s Gonna Get Very Weird Very Quick.” Music is always the artform first impacted by technology and the internet because it does not require extensive bandwidth. In this session we bring together some of the best in the music business.

1-1:50 PM – Eastern Time Zone

Session I:

AI Music and Creatives: A Relationship of Abundance and Trepidation

For the musician, solo artist, producer or A&R executive, the arrival in all its glory of “AI technology” is akin to the second coming of Napster. Napster arrived in 1999 and within a year or so effectively wiped out the “Record Industry” as it was then fashioned. And it has taken a couple of generations of musicians and technology to assemble a new and “more or less” thriving industry. Today, there is a massive listening audience, well designed and music friendly internet and mobile platforms, year-round and flourishing “Live Performance” opportunities and tons of “Merch.” And into this mix has arrived AI, the technology “Superpower” that makes “Synths” and "Drum Kits” look primitive. In this roundtable of “Creatives” we will explore our hesitancy to embrace AI, come clean in discussing the obvious dangers of copyright and “Deep Fake” while also grappling with the “Power of AI” as a “Creativity Tool.”

Session II:

AI the Controversy: Innovation & Transformation vs. Threat to the Future

The impact of AI on all industry sectors, from Entertainment and Communications to Law and Manufacturing is ongoing and clearly transformational. For those of you who have tried AI or perhaps have even become “Expert” in AI application, you are well aware of its significant impact and the problems it may present. While job loss may be balanced by new and creative industry innovation, there is no question that AI presents a future of ethical and technological unknowns and question marks.

2 PM – 2:50 PM - Eastern Time Zone

Session I:

AI & The Hollywood Writer: Man-Made/Machine Made - Screenwriter vs. The Machine

Let’s see what the expert say. In this session of professional Hollywood screenwriters, we will breakdown the AI Screenwriting process. Our experts, all of whom are familiar with the best in AI Writing software, so that hopefully, will guarantee that the machine-made will be given a fighting chance. Compare and contrast. Let’s start out with a concept, “Create a Series of Prompts.” The AI is generally helpful in “Creating a first page, first breakdown of characters, first explanation of the arc. But what comes next? Can our experts “Prompt” the AI to approach the idea of “Storytelling?” What about “Human Emotion.” Is the professional writer wasting time “Prompting Deep Thoughts” with a robot with limited imagination. Perhaps not. Perhaps the AI is stimulating our “Writer’s Roundtable.” What is the state of the art in “Professional” AI screenwriting.

3 PM - 3:50 PM

Session II:

The State of Generative AI Law: The Precedents – The Cases Currently in Progress

The illustrious history of copyright infringement lawsuits are filled with fascinating results. Most recently, the Supreme Court ruled that Andy Warhol infringed on photographer Lynn Goldsmith's copyright when he created a series of his famous silk screen images based on a photograph Goldsmith shot of the late musician Prince in 1981. So it is with great interest that the “AI Training Data” lawsuits make their way through the courts, The NY Times vs. OpenAI and Microsoft; Getty Images against Stability AI; a Class Action lawsuit filed against Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt; a Programmers’ Class Action against Github among others. In this session, discuss status of “Copyright Law.”

Speaker Submission: If you wish to submit a speaker - email - Click Submission - indicating session(s) you would like to be considered - indicating day, time, and session name. We request that you include a bio of the speaker and a backgrounder of the company.

Sponsoring Organizations - Various Options including hosting online "Content Spaces" & "Panels" during this Virtual Summit. "Content Spaces" will have full Zoom Room - Demo capability along with other interactive and display features. Please complete the form for further information - Click Here

To View By Track - Click Here

The Evening Keynotes - Click Here

 I. Track One: AI and the Future of Film, Video

II. Track Two: Virtual Humans and Robotics

III. Track Three: AI and Hollywood Production

IV. Track Four: AI and Music: Artists vs. Tech

V. Track Five: AI Startups & Investment

VI. Track Six: AI & Threats, Bias, Creative Rights

VII: Track Seven: AI Fashion, The Artist & Design

To View By Day - In Eastern Time Zone

I. The Evening Keynotes, July 22nd - 24th

II. Tuesday, July 23rd - Noon - 5 PM

III. Wednesday, July 24th - Noon - 5 PM

IV. Thursday, July 25th - Noon - 5 PM

Speaker Submission: If you wish to submit a speaker - email - Click Submission - indicating session(s) you would like to be considered - indicating day, time, and session name. We request that you include a bio of the speaker and a backgrounder of the company.

Sponsoring Organizations - Various Options including hosting online "Content Spaces" during this Virtual Summit. "Content Spaces" will have full Zoom Room - Demo capability along with other interactive and display features. Please complete the form for further information - Click Here