AI will democratise filmmaking, but not talent, say industry leaders at TCH x VAM 2026

MUMBAI: Lights, camera, algorithm. At a time when artificial intelligence is barging into every corner of the entertainment business, filmmakers and technologists gathered at The Content Hub x VFX & More Summit 2026 to debate whether AI is opening cinema’s doors wider than ever before or quietly rewriting the creative pecking order altogether.

The panel, titled Will AI Democratise Filmmaking or Redefine Creative Roles?, brought together Studio Blo co-founder and CEO Dipankar Mukherjee, director Manu Anand, Google AI India head GTM AI Naren Kachroo, writer-director-showrunner Nitya Mehra and Hoichoi and LoglineAI co-founder Vishnu Mohta. The session was chaired by Paperboat Design Studios founder, director and producer Aashish Mall.

The broad consensus in the room was clear: AI may make filmmaking more accessible, but it will not magically make everyone a filmmaker. The discussion repeatedly circled back to one idea that surfaced in different forms throughout the session: tools may evolve overnight, but storytelling still depends on taste, emotion and craft.

Panellists argued that AI is often misunderstood as a shortcut to cheap and instant filmmaking, when in reality it still requires deep collaboration between artists, designers, cinematographers, animators and writers. The rise of generative tools, they suggested, has not eliminated creative labour so much as shifted where that labour happens.

The smartphone analogy cropped up early in the discussion. Just because everyone carries a camera does not make everyone a photographer, and in much the same way, AI-generated visuals alone do not create compelling cinema. The technology may lower entry barriers, but audiences will still gravitate towards stories that feel emotionally truthful and visually distinctive.

The panel also explored how AI is already changing production pipelines. Traditional filmmaking departments are increasingly being folded into hybrid workflows where AI assists with storyboarding, previs, animation loops, visual development, dubbing, language localisation and post-production experimentation. Rather than replacing departments outright, the technology is accelerating repetitive processes while leaving human decision-making at the centre.

Animation emerged as one of the most exciting frontiers. Speakers noted that India has historically struggled to produce large-scale original animation because of high costs and long timelines. AI, they argued, could finally make ambitious animation projects economically viable without sacrificing artistic quality. However, they also warned against overreliance on prompting systems that imitate existing copyrighted material, stressing that authentic design work and handcrafted visual development remain essential.

The conversation repeatedly returned to the word “exceptional”. As AI tools become widely available, panellists suggested that mediocrity across industries may increasingly be automated away. In a world flooded with content, only creators capable of delivering emotionally resonant, culturally memorable work are likely to stand out.

Despite the optimism, the discussion did not shy away from industry anxieties. Concerns around copyright, facial capture, data privacy, ownership and indemnity formed a significant part of the conversation. Questions were raised about how AI companies are handling training data, content attribution and legal accountability in an era where synthetic media can increasingly blur the line between original and generated work.

The debate also touched on economics. Audience members pointed out that while AI is frequently framed as a democratising force, access to powerful hardware, subscription-based software and constantly evolving tools can still be prohibitively expensive for independent creators. The issue of affordability, especially for smaller studios and emerging filmmakers, remained unresolved.

Still, the overall tone of the session leaned more curious than fearful. Rather than treating AI as an existential threat, speakers largely framed it as the next technological shift in a long cinematic timeline that has already survived the arrival of sound, digital cameras, CGI and streaming.

Streaming platforms, meanwhile, appear ready to experiment. AI-generated and AI-assisted storytelling is already beginning to enter development pipelines, with platforms exploring new genres, formats and production methods that would previously have been difficult to finance or execute at scale.

Predictions flew thick and fast as the session wrapped up. Advertising, according to some panellists, could become almost entirely AI-generated within the next couple of years due to mounting economic pressure. At the same time, audiences are also expected to push back against a flood of poorly made AI content, forcing the industry towards higher-quality hybrid storytelling.

For now, the industry appears caught between excitement and caution, staring at a future where the machines may be getting smarter, but human instinct still calls the shots. In the race between prompt and punchline, the panel’s verdict was simple: technology may open the door, but emotion is still what keeps audiences in their seats.