Evidence Base Shortcomings: An Examination
In the ever-evolving world of the UK's video games industry, a new focus is emerging. The British Film Institute (BFI) has launched a scoping study delving into the economic consequences and potential market failures of overseas mergers and acquisitions. This study aims to ensure a balanced and thriving industry, free from potential market failures (BFI, 2022).
Meanwhile, in the realm of film, representation remains a pressing concern. While progress has been made in foregrounding characters from underrepresented groups, there is still room for improvement, particularly in terms of lead roles and narrative ownership. This is crucial for film to truly reflect the diverse society it serves (BFI, 2021).
Two initiatives, the Creative Diversity Network's Project Diamond and Ofcom's annual diversity in television broadcasting reports, regularly collect diversity data in the UK. These efforts provide valuable insights and help drive change (Ofcom, 2021; Creative Diversity Network, 2021).
In the realm of AI, socially-minded researchers find a fertile ground in the creative industries. By applying computer vision responsibly, they can expand the evaluation of on-screen representation from simple presence to prominence. This approach goes beyond binary detection, aiming to measure how prominently particular subjects or elements are featured on-screen (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
Key computer vision techniques to assess prominence include object detection and localization, visual saliency estimation, keypoint and pose detection, and spatial and semantic analysis. These methods help quantify spatial, visual, and semantic attention metrics (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
However, methodological challenges persist. Defining operational metrics for prominence, balancing accuracy with computational efficiency, explaining model decisions, and integrating contextual semantic understanding are all areas requiring careful consideration (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
The UK's departure from the EU has brought about changes in the way British firms trade and work with European counterparts. A report on post-Brexit migration and accessing foreign talent in the Creative Industries details these changes (Creative Industries Council, 2021).
Current evidence on on-screen representation often focuses on presence, overlooking prominence. This includes screen time, centering, and portrayal. Manual annotation and self-reported forms have limitations that can only be addressed by embracing more innovative methods like computer vision (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
Worldwide exports of creative goods exceeded 500 billion USD in 2015, with a 150% increase since 2000. This underscores the significant economic impact of the creative industries (UNESCO, 2016).
Data gaps and "insufficient collection" of disability and some other demographic data have been highlighted in Ofcom's reports. This underscores the need for more comprehensive data collection and analysis (Ofcom, 2021).
Project Diamond had an average response rate of 28% in 2018/19, leaving much of the broadcast landscape unaccounted for. This highlights the need for more effective data collection strategies (Creative Diversity Network, 2021).
Only 1% of productions meeting the BFI Diversity Standard do so via gender identity, compared with 63% for gender and 50% for race/ethnicity. This underscores the need for continued efforts to ensure representation across all demographics (BFI, 2021).
In conclusion, computer vision offers a promising avenue for expanding the evaluation of on-screen representation from presence to prominence. However, it also presents its own methodological challenges. Addressing these challenges is crucial for the development of robust, interpretable assessments of on-screen prominence.
References: - BFI (2021). Diversity in the UK video games industry: Scoping study. British Film Institute. - BFI (2021). Diversity Standard Annual Report 2020. British Film Institute. - Creative Diversity Network (2021). Project Diamond Annual Report 2018/19. Creative Diversity Network. - Creative Industries Council (2021). Post-Brexit migration and accessing foreign talent in the Creative Industries. Creative Industries Council. - Leung, R., & Meletti, B. (2022). Expanding on-screen representation evaluation with computer vision. ArXiv. - Ofcom (2021). Diversity in television broadcasting report 2020. Office of Communications. - UNESCO (2016). The creative economy: Mapping the policy landscape. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
- The British Film Institute (BFI) study in 2022 is investigating potential market failures in the video games industry due to overseas mergers and acquisitions, aiming to maintain a thriving and balanced industry.
- While representation in film has seen advancements, there is still a need to improve lead roles and narrative ownership to better represent the diversity of society (BFI, 2021).
- The Creative Diversity Network's Project Diamond and Ofcom's annual diversity reports gather valuable data about representation in the UK, helping to fuel change (Ofcom, 2021; Creative Diversity Network, 2021).
- Researchers in AI find creative industries to be an exciting area, using computer vision to evaluate on-screen representation beyond mere presence to prominence (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
- Techniques such as object detection, visual saliency estimation, keypoint and pose detection, and spatial and semantic analysis help quantify prominence metrics in the assessment of on-screen representation (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
- Defining operational metrics for prominence, balancing accuracy with computational efficiency, explaining model decisions, and integrating contextual semantic understanding are key challenges in applying AI to representation evaluation (Leung & Meletti, 2022).
- The departure from the EU has affected trade and collaboration with European counterparts in the UK's creative industries, with a report providing insights on post-Brexit migration and foreign talent access (Creative Industries Council, 2021).
