Action! IBM’s Watson produces first AI movie trailer (+ video)

From beating humans at Jeopardy to helping fight cancer – what’s next for IBM’s Watson? The director’s chair?

IBM’s artificial intelligence powerhouse Watson is getting credit for helping produce the first Hollywood movie trailer relying on AI. It’s for the sci-fi thriller “Morgan,” and Entertainment Weekly offers the trailer a thumbs-up review.

“Watch the thrilling trailer IBM created for Morgan using artificial intelligence,” raves EW.

While the human stars are Kate Mara and Paul Giamatti, Watson should get some screen credit for helping create buzz. Headlines all over the web heralded Watson’s foray into big-screen entertainment.

“For a film about the risks of pushing the limits of technology too far, it only makes sense to advertise for it using artificial intelligence,” says Popular Mechanics.

“Morgan” is set to open on Friday.

A quick summary from IBM and 20th Century Fox:

“A corporate troubleshooter (Kate Mara) is sent to a remote, top-secret location, where she is to investigate and evaluate a terrifying accident. She learns the event was triggered by a seemingly innocent ‘human,’ who presents a mystery of both infinite promise and incalculable danger.”

The IBM Watson team did its homework before unleashing Watson’s AI.

“Utilizing experimental Watson APIs [application program interface] and machine learning techniques, the IBM Research system analyzed hundreds of horror/thriller movie trailers.

“After learning what keeps audiences on the edge of their seats, the AI system suggested the top 10 best candidate moments for a trailer from the movie Morgan, which an IBM filmmaker then edited and arranged together.”

Popular Mechanics did note some human intervention was still required:

“A human – in this case, the ‘resident IBM filmmaker’ – still needed to step in to edit for creativity. Even so, a process that would normally take weeks was reduced to hours.”

What’s next for Watson after the director’s chair? A starring role based on studies of the screen’s most successful legends?

Just think: “2101,” starring Watson A.I. as artificial intelligence HAL and astronaut pilot HAL.

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