Entertainment leaders amp up discussions about AI, creators and revolutionary tech at CES 2026

LAS VEGAS (AP) — The world’s largest tech showcase doesn’t come with out theatrics. Innovations and devices like a lollipop that sings to you as you devour it, a laundry-folding robotic and a “smart” LEGO brick have stolen the highlight thus far at CES 2026. But underscoring this 12 months’s programming is a powerful concentrate on an business that depends on the same theatrical aptitude: leisure.

More than 25 completely different panels and occasions associated to the leisure business are on the schedule in Las Vegas, specializing in each the standard studio aspect of the business and the digital aspect pushed by content material creators. The programming has posed questions in regards to the cinematic capabilities of AI, how promoting has been impacted by AI and the position the burgeoning creator financial system performs within the bigger leisure panorama.

Artificial intelligence has lengthy been a sticking level in Hollywood, and lots of creatives within the leisure world have been reluctant to embrace the quickly evolving know-how and AI-powered instruments. Outrage ensued when Tilly Norwood, a wholly AI-made character, debuted as the primary “AI actor” within the fall. Questions about copyrighted characters, photographs and supplies nonetheless loom massive in conversations about AI. But many audio system in CES programming have been optimistic about how the know-how could be helpful, and the way AI could possibly be used to assist artists harness their creativity moderately than stifle it or substitute it.

“The tools that we create have unlocked something in us. It’s kind of flattened that bar in terms of what storytelling can be because anyone now can be a storyteller,” mentioned Dwayne Koh, the pinnacle of artistic at Leonardo.ai, throughout a Monday session on AI and creativity. “It levels the playing field, but it also makes it easier for people to tell stories that they always want(ed) to tell that they never could have the opportunity to tell.”

Others have been fast to level out that Hollywood’s panic over rising know-how will not be new.

“When we launched Photoshop in the ’90s, we were also getting pretty angry phone calls from creatives saying that we were destroying craft,” mentioned Hannah Elsakr, Adobe’s vp of generative AI new enterprise ventures, at a Monday session targeted on promoting.

“We’re in early days with AI. I’m not advocating for more cats jumping off diving boards in your feeds. I think it’s about high creativity and so the director, the artist, the actor is going to drive the high quality,” Elsakr continued. “Think of AI as another tool in the toolkit to make you drive that forward.”

Many conversations additionally centered on influencers and the rising legitimacy of internet-native creators and content material within the conventional leisure business. The effectivity with which these creators work, typically as a result of they’re utilizing AI-enabled instruments, was a major focus amongst many audio system.

Brad Haugen, the manager vp of digital technique and progress at Lionsgate and three Arts, mentioned conventional media firms ought to welcome alternatives to work with creators and embrace their significance. “We have, potentially, the next great filmmaker, the next great TV showrunner, the next great digital entrepreneur,” he mentioned. “Creators are not just there to market products. They’re not just there to do internet stuff. They’re actually the next Spike Jonze and the next Sofia Coppola.”

More entertainment-related programming is scheduled for Wednesday, with many classes popping out of Variety’s Entertainment Summit on the showcase, together with panels with leaders from Netflix, Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery and actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

In addition to formal programming, a number of entertainment-related services and products are on show at CES. An array of spectacular televisions with superior options, AI-powered sensible headphones, a “stringless smart guitar” and even a “sound chair” that has built-in audio have been among the many improvements geared toward bringing AI and superior tech to leisure customers.

Amazon additionally introduced the rollout of Alexa.com this week, bringing its AI assistant to the net with a number of latest options, together with personalised film and TV suggestions. It’s considered one of many options designed to boost at-home viewing, together with the beforehand introduced characteristic that permits Alexa to leap to a selected scene you’re looking for with only a easy description.

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