AI & the Future of Business (ft. Eshan Abdul Salam)

In this episode of Teens 4 Tech, we sit down with entrepreneur Eshan Abdul Salam to explore how AI is transforming the future of business. From building an AI startup to leading a nonprofit, Eshan shares his journey, insights on AI-driven decision-making, and what today’s teens need to know to stay ahead in a rapidly changing world. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

It's a movie night with your friends, crazy visual effects, perfect sound design, and flawless editing. The perfect movie. The credits roll, but you don't realize how many of those jobs might one day be replaced by artificial intelligence. On your phone, a fan-made trailer pops up, edited with AI tools. An AI scripture generator just helped write a short film that looks kinda legit. For our generation, this is normal. But behind the cool tech, there's a bigger question. What happens to the people that used to do this work? And what happens to the stories we tell when AI becomes a part of the writing process? Good morning, good afternoon, and good evening. We're your host, John Way. And Vishvator. And welcome back to the Teens for Tech Podcast, where we break down complex issues of AI ethics in our society. Today we're going to talk about something that connects to almost everyone: movies, shows, and entertainment. More specifically, we're asking about how AI is changing the movie industry and not just on the screen, but behind the scenes. And what that means for jobs, creativity, and storytelling.

SPEAKER_00 1:06

This episode isn't about saying AI is evil or that creators should never use technology. AI is already doing some pretty impressive things in filmmaking, from smarter editing tools to realistic previews, AI-generated sound, and even localized dubbing that makes films easier to watch around the world. But at the same time, it raises serious concerns about job displacement, authenticity, repetitive storytelling, and whether AI is actually helping creativity or slowly hollowing it out. And for teens who consume this content or who might want to work in this industry one day, these changes matter more than we realize.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Let's start with what AI is actually doing in the movie and TV industry. Because it's way more than just robots making films. Right now, many filmmakers use AI tools such as AI script generators, which have the ability to brainstorm plot ideas, suggest dialogue, and create full blown scripts for stories, along with AI visualization tools, which directors can take simple sketches or storyboards, and AI can turn them into near photorealistic previews of scenes. Instead of guessing what a shot might look like, they can almost see it fully rendered before filming.

SPEAKER_00 2:14

On the audio and performance side, AI voice cloning also allows filmmakers to recreate an actor's voice using past recordings. This can be used to adjust dialogue, fix lines, or even recreate voices long after an actor is aged or passed away. AI is also used for localized dubbing, helping match lip movements more naturally across languages, which makes global storytelling more accessible. And when it comes to sound design, AI tools can generate background noise, footsteps, crowds, and ambience automatically, saving sound designers hours of manual work. AI editing software has also become incredibly powerful. It can extend short clips, remove unwanted objects from scenes, clean up backgrounds, and even help cut trailers by analyzing what types of moments audiences tend to react to emotionally. In many ways, these tools don't just automate boring tasks. They actually speed up production and give creators more time to focus on big ideas. But this is where things get complicated, especially for anyone who wants to work in this industry someday. Job displacement is a real concern. Roles like editing assistants, script assistants, sound designers, and parts of visual effects are sometimes viewed as replaceable when AI can handle portions of that work. If software can rough cut a scene, generate sound, or produce a first draft of a script, studios may start questioning why they need as many people involved. Even when AI doesn't fully replace a job, it can still change how that job is valued. Studios might hire fewer people, offer lower pay, or expect workers to do more in less time because the AI is helping. This pressure is also being felt by writers, editors, and VFX artists who worry that their labor is quietly devalued. For teens thinking about creative careers, it forces an uncomfortable question.

SPEAKER_01 4:25

Another big worry is authenticity. Yeah, artificial intelligence can generate a script, it can imitate a style, and it can even create a scene that looks emotionally intense. But for a lot of people, especially creators, are asking this very question. Can AI really understand human experiences deeply enough to tell stories that feel real? And when you watch a powerful movie, there's usually a human behind it who lived something familiar, wrestled with the idea, or spent years rewriting and refining the script. The fear that AI generated content might lack that core emotional depth, that feeling of wow, somebody really went through something to tell this story. And as teens, we can tell when something hits different. We can also tell when something feels like a remix of stuff. Something that we've already seen a hundred times.

SPEAKER_00 5:24

That leads to another issue, content homogenization. AI learns by analyzing existing movies and shows, what performed well, what audiences clicked on, what made money, and much more. On the surface, that sounds efficient, but it can also discourage risk. If studios rely heavily on AI predictions, they may prioritize safe ideas, repeat successful formulas, and avoid experimental or unconventional projects. Over time, this can lead to fewer new voices, less diversity in storytelling, and movies that feel slightly different, but fundamentally the same. From a teen's perspective, that's frustrating. We want fresh ideas, new perspectives, and stories that challenge us, not endless variations of the same plot.

SPEAKER_01 6:18

Now let's talk about the economic and ethical side of AI in script writing and production. When AI writes a part of a script, we have to ask, who owns that story? And isn't it really original if it was trained on thousands of past scripts read by humans who didn't fully consent or consent at all to their work being used that way? And should those writers be credited or paid in some way? And it gets even messier with AI voice cloning and using actors' images. If a studio scans an actor's face and voice once, can they keep using that forever with AI? And what happens if an AI version of an actor appears in a movie they never really acted in? And what if someone uses artificial intelligence to fake a performance or a line that the actor would never really say? These are ethical questions that go way beyond cool tech. They touch on consent, respect for human labor, and whether movies in the future will still feel like they're made by real people, or just optimized by machines.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

The answer isn't simple. AI isn't automatically the villain. These tools can help creatives experiment, lower barriers to entry, and make filmmaking more accessible to smaller studios or creators from different parts of the world. The real issue is how AI is used. When it supports human creativity, reduces repetitive work, and opens doors for new voices, it can make the industry more inclusive and innovative. But when it's used to mainly cut costs, sideline workers, and endlessly recycle content, we risk losing the soul of storytelling.

SPEAKER_01 7:58

As teens, we're not running studios and we're not negotiating contracts. But we are the audience, the future filmmakers, and the next generation of editors, writers, sound designers, and animators. How we think about AI now truly does matter. And some things we can do even as teenagers is understanding what AI is doing in entertainment, so we're not just passive consumers. Following and sharing projects where you can tell the creators' voices really do shine. And using AI tools to learn, create, and practice while still valuing your own originality and ethics. Along with asking questions, especially in film classes, media clubs, or online spaces. Bring up AI, originality, and consent. The more we talk about it, the harder it is for companies to pretend that no one cares. At the start of this episode, we talked about watching a movie and realizing how many jobs beyond the credits are being affected by AI. The biggest danger isn't just job loss. It's slowly accepting a world where human creativity is treated as a secondary. So the real questions become are we okay with studios treating their own workers as replaceable because AI exists? Should there be a clear set of rules around using actors' voices and faces with AI? And how do we protect originality and diversity when AI is trained mostly on what's already popular? These questions don't have easy answers. But they're exactly what the conversations our generation needs to be having now. And of course, just like every great startup in the tech world, we can't do this without you. Follow our Instagram at Teens for Tech and make sure to stick around for future episodes. Your support means everything to us. Thanks for tuning in for this week's episode of Teens for Tech. I'm John Nui.

SPEAKER_00 9:50

And I'm Luce Vatgrown.

SPEAKER_01 9:51

And this is the Teens for Tech Podcast.