AI Disrupts Reality TV: Casting Challenges, Deepfakes, and Digital Clones

The rise of AI is transforming the reality TV industry, impacting both the casting process and the creation of unauthorized content featuring reality stars.

AI’s impact on casting: Reality TV casting directors are facing challenges due to applicants using AI filters and editing tools on their social media photos, making it harder to assess their real appearance:

• Valerie Penso-Cuculich, a casting director for shows like Love Island USA and The Real Housewives of Dubai, says potential contestants are increasingly using AI to alter their appearance, resulting in over-filtered images that don’t reflect reality.
• When applicants show up for Zoom auditions, they may not look like their AI-enhanced photos, complicating the casting process for directors seeking to cast authentic people.

Legal and regulatory concerns: As AI becomes more prevalent in reality TV production, legal and regulatory issues are emerging:

• AI could be used to suggest storylines, edit episodes, and assess audience reactions, but the Writers Guild of America agreement may limit the extent to which production companies can utilize AI in their shows.
• Unauthorized AI-generated images and videos featuring reality TV stars are proliferating, with tools like ChatGPT being used to manipulate clips and create new content without permission.
• The lack of comprehensive US federal laws addressing deepfakes makes it challenging for reality TV stars to stop unauthorized AI usage of their personas.

AI as a plot tool: Some reality TV shows are incorporating AI as a plot device, raising concerns about the psychological impact on contestants:

• Netflix’s dating show Deep Fake Love used deepfake technology to convince contestants that their partners were cheating on them, prompting questions about the acceptable limits of AI-induced trauma for entertainment purposes.
• However, AI can also be used positively in reality TV, such as instantly translating a star’s voice into another language to bridge language barriers.

Embracing AI: While some in the reality TV community are wary of AI, others are embracing it:

• Reality TV star Jill Zarin created a digital twin of herself using AI cloning website Delphi, allowing fans to ask her questions and receive answers from her AI clone.
• Digital clones can handle media and fan outreach for reality stars, answering frequently asked questions and potentially remembering details the stars themselves might forget during interviews.

Broader implications: As AI continues to shape the reality TV landscape, the industry must navigate the balance between embracing technological advancements and maintaining the authentic human element that defines the genre. While AI can streamline production processes and offer new creative possibilities, some veteran producers argue that the essence of reality TV lies in capturing the unfiltered human experience, which cannot be reduced to algorithms. As the debate surrounding AI’s role in reality TV evolves, the industry will need to find ways to harness the technology’s benefits while preserving the authenticity and relatability that have made reality TV a cultural phenomenon.