Peaky Blinders creator urges industry to defend jobs from AI

Peaky Blinders creator Steven Knight and Banijay Entertainment chief exec Marco Bassetti have urged the industry to defend entry level jobs from being usurped by AI. 

Arguments around the application of the tech have become a major issue for the content industry over the past 18 months, most notably with the US-based Writers Guild of America and actors union SAG-AFTRA voicing fears during its 2023 strike that broad adoption could remove swathes of jobs. 

AI’s ability to efficiently perform tasks that had previously been undertaken by apprentices and those at the start of their careers has emerged as a particular concern, something Knight picked up on during a panel at Web Summit 2024 in Lisbon.  

“The issue is that in the creative industries, AI is at its best when it’s replacing people who are at entry level into our industry. AI is very good at doing what apprentices do,” the SAS: Rogue Heroes writer said. 

And with AI’s lower cost versus those of employing staff, Knight voiced concern about the longer term impact on jobs. 

“Where is the apprenticeship? Where’s the entry level? Are people going to be expected to come with no experience and then leap straight into the stratospheric area. It isn’t going to happen. 

“We have to defend the process of human beings learning the craft, even in spite of the fact that the output of learning the craft could be done more economically by AI…” 

Bassetti, whose company owns 130 production labels that straddle more than 20 countries, added that he “totally” agreed with Knight, who works with Banijay’s Kudos to produce SAS: Rogue Heroes and Tiger Aspect on Peaky Blinders. 

“It is a bit an issue to be honest with you and not only for the creative industries - for many other industries, the entry level could be cut by a lot. For instance, in our industry, some are using AI that helps on scripts. This is cutting jobs.” 

Bassetti said that Banijay is using AI “in a very transparent way… to be more productive and to cut some time in order to achieve better things” but he urged the industry to “be careful” about its application. 

“There is a process and a formative process of the creative person that has to be defended,” he said, but added that AI would also allow smaller companies and independent creatives to “to go faster” outside of larger organisations. 

“And this is the other part [of the discussion around AI], there will be more opportunity for more creative people, even outside of the big companies like us.”