What OEMs need to know about the AI media boom

[MattQuirk]

At this point, generative AI needs no introduction.  

Its potential is clear—McKinsey estimates that GenAI could add up to $4.4T to the global economy and increase AI’s overall impact by up to 40%. That level of growth has major implications for many industries—especially in broadcast media, which is seeing monumental changes in the way content is created, distributed, and monetized.

The important question is, how can OEMs tap into this transformation and seize the opportunity to drive growth?

With a growing number of use cases across a range of media types—from images and video to lifelike AI avatars—there’s no shortage of options to get involved. Let’s explore the available opportunities and outline the steps OEMs must take to become a key enabler in one of the world’s fastest-growing sectors.

How is AI-generated media changing the industry?

More and more content today is created with the help of artificial intelligence. Recent strides in the technology are centered around diffusion models for high-quality images, generative adversarial networks (GANs) for enhancing realism, and of course large language models (LLMs) for combining text with visuals.

Here are just a few of the resulting use cases. 

Images 

AI-generated images were among the first big breakthroughs in the GenAI space, and they've only improved since then. Media companies are using AI to quickly create graphics for marketing and advertising, editorial features, and personalized content at scale. Not to mention: if there’s text on an image, AI can localize it. 

One impressive example of AI-generated media in branding is BMW’s “art cars”—a project that draws on almost 900 years of art to generate striking visuals, using the BMW 8 Series as a canvas. 

Video

AI is changing every stage of video-based work, from pre-visualization to post-production. Emerging tools like Adobe Firefly’s Video Model are letting creators generate eye-catching clips or animations from a simple text prompt, and it’s easy to imagine the use cases in content creation. 

Others are pushing the boundaries even further. Staircase Studios AI is developing the world's first feature-length film that combines human talent with fully AI-generated visuals. The film, named “The Woman With Red Hair”, will feature AI-generated characters and sets, with humans writing and delivering the script.  

Audio 

By giving studios the ability to generate entire soundtracks for films, ads, and video games from scratch, GenAI has helped lower the barriers for creating quality audio. And for projects that require more precise creative control, HPE OEM partner Avid Technology has developed AI-based notation software that can help edit chord progressions and streamline score arrangements, freeing up composers to focus on refining their ideas. 

AI avatars

AI avatars let media companies create realistic, interactive digital personas of key staff, like customer service representatives or brand ambassadors. This can help free up team members to focus on more complex tasks while reducing operational costs. Avatars can even be merged with scripted video content and used to create promotional materials—no wonder the AI avatar market is seeing record growth.

What’s in it for OEMs?

All these creative breakthroughs share one thing in common: They require powerful platforms to run. As a result, there’s a growing demand for scalable computing power, robust infrastructure, flexible storage, and edge capabilities—exactly the kind of solutions that a partnership with HPE OEM positions you to deliver.

Here’s what OEMs stand to gain:

• Market leadership. The media industry is racing to adopt generative AI, and OEMs that establish themselves early as key enablers will capture a valuable share of the evolving market.
• New revenue streams. AI media platforms offer an opportunity to expand beyond traditional hardware with innovative new services that boast a quick time-to-value.
• Customer satisfaction. Position your business as a credible AI provider that can help media businesses unlock new capabilities, and you’ll increase customer loyalty and open the door to even more successful partnerships.
• Resilience against disruption. Markets worldwide are moving fast, especially within the media industry. Having tech that helps you align with this momentum and secure reliable revenue will help you navigate change.

Five actionable steps to take with the right partner

There's no need to go it alone—taking innovations to market is easier with the right strategic tech partner. Here are five things you can do right now to start moving towards your next AI innovation for the media industry, with expert support from HPE OEM.

1. Ensure your tech is up to the task

AI-generated media takes serious storage and processing power. Run a full assessment of your existing infrastructure: can your systems support large-scale model training? Are your edge devices AI-ready? Do you have a scalable cloud platform?  

HPE OEM partners will have these bases covered, with full access to reliable, tried-and-tested turnkey solutions to help build AI innovations. 

2. Build with the media industry in mind 

Unlike most other data processing tasks, media production involves handling ultra-high-res files, diverse media formats, and reliable real-time processing for live broadcasts. Plus, compute infrastructure for media businesses needs to smoothly integrate with their creative and production tools. 

With HPE OEM, you can integrate world-class infrastructure with strong SLAs and global support capabilities to help customers see productions through to success. 

3. Make sure your AI foundation is compliant 

With constantly shifting AI regulations, compliance is now a key competitive differentiator. When you partner with HPE OEM, you get infrastructure that supports responsible, secure AI initiatives based on our AI ethics and principles—so you can protect your business from regulatory risks and build trust with customers. 

4. Give yourself market agility 

Succeeding with AI means being ready to adapt. Offer hybrid deployment options that can flex to market demands, along with pay-as-you-go models like HPE GreenLake Cloud to incentivize customers. Plan a roadmap for your innovation that evolves with your customers’ needs.  

5. Lead with sustainability

AI solutions demand serious compute power and consume a lot of energy. As environmental regulations tighten and sustainability becomes critical to success, it’s important that you build your innovations with efficiency in mind. The same goes for media industry customers, who are working to ensure their production pipelines meet green benchmarks.

HPE OEM can help you develop a sustainability strategy that focuses on reducing energy usage, optimizing your infrastructure, and lowering emissions—so you can secure more value from your operations with less impact on the planet.

Be ready for the media revolution with HPE OEM 

While it’s not the only transformative AI use case, generative AI is already having a profound impact on the media industry. OEMs that step in now will have a valuable opportunity to be a key player in the next chapter of media creation.  

With HPE OEM as your technology partner, you’ll have a clear path forward. Reach out to us today and start planning your AI innovation.