Pickford’s AI series “Whispers” bowed at Busan Asian Contents & Film Market, offering audiences an interactive teaser that showcased the potential of AI-driven storytelling.
Emmy-winning producer Bernie Su (“The Lizzie Bennet Diaries”) said his motivation for creating an AI series stemmed from his desire to explore new narrative formats. “The storyteller to me is that what you’re about to see, this experience, is a story experience that cannot be done without AI,” Su explained. “That’s a new art form that, at its speed and at its fidelity, cannot be done without the AI and technology that pick first, pioneer, and put in this experience.”
The showcase allowed audiences to participate through a QR code-enabled chat room where they could provide instant feedback. Stephen Piron, co-founder of Pickford AI, described the audience’s phones as “the conductor’s baton, painter’s brush, and storyteller’s voice.”
Though brief, the clip demonstrated how the interactive format functions, particularly through a catchphrase generated in Marcus Kent’s dialogue. The post-screening panel featured voice actors Brandon Soohoo (“Tropic Thunder”) and Heavenly Reyna (“The Bold and the Beautiful”), who discussed their experience working on the project.
“I honestly did not recognize myself. It was really interesting. I recognized different things that I have said, but nothing altogether,” Reyna said.
Soohoo echoed similar sentiments about the AI voice synthesis results. “I recognize certain things that we were recording, like a portion that we did kind of happier or a little bit more anxious,” he said. “But some of the inflections are for sure familiar, but most of them, I didn’t necessarily say that.”
Addressing the use of actors’ voices, Su emphasized the importance of consent and transparency, and working within SAG’s framework for AI projects. “We are using a voice with the approval. We are commencing the voice with their approval,” Su said. “Some people would pass. Because they were a bit like AI, there has to be a stigma that the audience would have against them. Again, they already look fearful for that.”
Reyna acknowledged the broader industry concerns while expressing trust in the project. “For me personally, I have a lot of reservations with AI just in the creative industry, but I trust Bernie, and I also trust his visions and his innovation,” she said. “And I thought it was cool.”
