AI News

AI Co-Creation and Fan Participation Are the Ultimate Validation of Artists and Their Work

Credit: Outlever

Key Points

  • Amazon invests in AI-native entertainment platforms like Fable’s Showrunner, allowing audiences to generate their own episodes.
  • Ioanina Pavel, a creative producer, views AI-driven co-creation as a validation and expansion of storytelling, not a threat.
  • Pavel emphasizes the need for a legal framework to protect original creators while allowing fans to earn from AI-generated content.
  • Despite industry fears, Pavel believes AI will democratize production, breaking down financial barriers for new storytellers.
Ioanina Pavel - Co-Founder | May One
Fans becoming so involved with your product that they would riff on it and imagine themselves at the core of it isn't something bad. That level of fandom is what all creators wake up and create for. That is the point of creation. It's a validation, a step forward.Ioanina Pavel - Co-Founder | May One

As Amazon pours investment into AI-native entertainment platforms like Fable’s Showrunner, the creative community is bracing for another wave of disruption. The move signals a future where audiences can generate their own episodes of shows, casting themselves and their friends as the stars. For many in Hollywood, this represents a terrifying loss of authorial control and another step toward obsolescence. But for some creators, this level of fan participation isn't a threat; it’s the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

We spoke with Ioanina Pavel, a seasoned creative producer and Co-Founder of the production company May One. Her new series SUBTERAN recently debuted at #1 on Netflix in her home country of Romania and spent three weeks in the global top 10. With a career forged developing and producing high-profile dramas for HBO Europe, Pavel has a deeply informed perspective on the evolving relationship between creators and their audience. She argued that the industry’s fear of AI-driven co-creation misses the point entirely.

  • The point of creation: "Fans becoming so involved with your product that they would riff on it and imagine themselves at the core of it isn't something bad. That level of fandom is what all creators wake up and create for. That is the point of creation. It's the kind of society we're increasingly moving toward; we've seen it speeding up with social media and user-generated content, so it's already happening. It's not the hardest pill to swallow. It's a validation, a step forward."

Pavel’s vision isn't one of destruction, but of expansion. She doesn’t believe AI-generated content will replace traditional film and television, but will instead run alongside it as a powerful new medium.

  • A parallel medium: "I think that what's going to happen is that there's going to be a new, different medium. They're going to run parallel for a while," she explained. "And even if AI does seep into generating videos in TV, I don't think that displaces the human creator from the core of it. I really don't feel doom-and-gloomish about it."

Of course, this participatory utopia cannot be a creative free-for-all. Pavel, speaking as a producer, stressed that this new model must be built on a solid legal and financial framework that protects and rewards the original creators.

  • Ironing out the framework: "With proper laws in place, the IP must remain with the creators. Fans who generate new work should also be able to earn from it, but the revenue share has to be clearly defined in contracts. That bottom line has to be secure for the creator, especially now when so many feel marginalized and pushed out of the money."

    Ioanina Pavel - Co-Founder | May One
    With proper laws in place, the IP must remain with the creators. Fans who generate new work should also be able to earn from it, but the revenue share has to be clearly defined in contracts. That bottom line has to be secure for the creator, especially now when so many feel marginalized and pushed out of the money.Ioanina Pavel - Co-Founder | May One

    This pragmatic approach is necessary in an industry already struggling with its own contradictory stance on AI. Pavel pointed to the ongoing legal battles where studios are fighting AI tools in court, even as their own employees are adopting them.

  • The Disney/Midjourney dilemma: "Disney and Universal brought a suit against Midjourney, and Midjourney replied that you can't have it both ways," Pavel said. "They pointed out that some of their users even have disney.com email addresses, meaning Disney’s own creatives are using the platform. And that’s true; a lot of creatives are already starting to embrace it."

Pavel made it clear she is not a blind optimist, and was quick to acknowledge the anxieties that fueled the recent Hollywood strikes and the very real threat of job displacement.

  • Wolves at the door: "I know that people are very, very afraid about what might happen in the future," she conceded. "The wolves are at the door in a way, and the strikes were about holding that off for as long as they could. But I don't think that's going away."

Looking forward, Pavel is most excited by AI's potential to break down the financial barriers that have historically kept storytellers on the sidelines. For her, the true promise of these new tools lay in their ability to eliminate practical production hurdles and empower a new generation of creators. This led to a conclusion that was both practical and profound: AI will not kill storytelling; it will unleash it.

"I'm most excited about the democratization of the budget. As a producer, I'm excited about a world where I can write a script, get five friends to work on it, and get it going because AI can help with production costs for things like locations, which would normally deter a creator. We thrive on stories as humans. That is what keeps us human and what drives us forward. Storytelling is just going to get better with AI because more storytellers will access these kinds of tools and have a real platform to tell their story."