About TELUS Local Content
TELUS Local Content funds and supports the production of locally-reflective content across B.C., Alberta and Quebec through three funding programs: TELUS STORYHIVE, TELUS originals and maCommunauté.
We create programs and funding opportunities that enable access to the Canadian broadcast system so that community members across B.C., Alberta and Quebec can create and share stories that matter to them and their communities.
All of the content we fund falls under one or more of TELUS’ social purpose pillars: Community, Connectivity, Our Environment, Healthy Living, Security and Agriculture & Food Security.
Introduction
Current AI Landscape
The rapid emergence of online platforms offering accessible generative AI tools has transformed film production by enabling content creation at an unprecedented volume and efficiency. The AI landscape for content creation, TV and filmmaking is evolving, driven by advancements in generative AI and machine learning. This technology is reshaping the industry by streamlining production, enhancing creativity and opening exciting new possibilities for storytelling. However, while new creative potential is unlocked, AI must be used mindfully as a tool to support innovation but with awareness of the risks to the humans who use it.
Why We Created AI Guidelines
At TELUS, we believe that AI will augment human capabilities and help deliver better outcomes to build a friendlier future when it is used responsibly. In accordance with our public commitment to Responsible AI, TELUS uses AI to improve customer experiences, enhance products and services, and contribute to social good. In fact, TELUS’ generative AI (GenAI) customer support tool made history by becoming the first in the world to be internationally certified in Privacy by Design (ISO 31700-1). This milestone underscores TELUS' commitment to ensuring the highest standards of privacy and data protection, while continuously innovating to deliver a best-in-class customer experience.
TELUS Local Content acknowledges that while generative AI can provide valuable opportunities for productions, it also raises important legal, ethical and practical questions. In fact, as a Local Content team, we use generative AI tools to streamline our workflows and jumpstart or enhance our creative projects, daily tasks and workflows.
Purpose of Guidelines & Disclaimers
These guidelines are intended for TELUS STORYHIVE content creators and TELUS originals filmmakers to ensure that AI is used ethically, responsibly and transparently in the filmmaking process. The purpose of this is to protect the creative integrity of human-driven storytelling, ensure our human-centric use of technology and enhance storytelling without letting it contribute to harmful or exclusionary narratives.
As AI tools become more integrated into areas like scriptwriting, visual effects, casting and post-production, clear guidelines help protect the creative integrity of artists and ensure fair treatment of workers. Please note that these guidelines are not intended as legal advice or strict directives on AI use, but rather as a collection of considerations, best practices, resources and risk management strategies to highlight areas of sensitivity and concern for TELUS STORYHIVE content creators and TELUS originals filmmakers. As the AI environment continues to advance, these guidelines should be a stepping stone on journey, rather than be viewed as a conclusive final point.
What is Generative AI?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that is designed to emulate human tasks through learning and automation. This is achieved by training machines to find meaningful patterns in information, similar to what a human mind does, but at a scale which would not be possible using human intelligence alone.
Generative AI is a type of artificial intelligence that creates new content such as text, images, video, audio and code by learning patterns from large datasets. Unlike traditional AI, which primarily analyzes data or makes predictions, generative AI produces original outputs that mimic human creativity and innovation.
In the context of working with TELUS STORYHIVE and TELUS originals, these tools can assist or automate parts of the creative process, from ideation and scripting to post-production and marketing. Generative AI analyzes and learns from existing data, therefore assisting in various stages of production, accelerating workflows and expanding creative possibilities. It can be seen as a collaborative tool that supports content creators and filmmakers by enhancing productivity, sparking new ideas and providing innovative solutions to creative challenges.
How Can Gen AI Be Used in Productions?
Generative AI is transforming filmmaking by streamlining production, enhancing creativity and reducing costs. While this is not an exhaustive list, here are some examples of how it can be used across different stages of the content creation and filmmaking process:
Pre-Production
Scriptwriting and Storyboarding
Idea Generation:
AI can act as a brainstorming partner, providing unconventional plot ideas, twists, or character arcs that push the boundaries of traditional storytelling.
Script Development:
AI tools like ChatGPT can assist content creators and filmmakers in structuring narratives, generating voiceover scripts and refining interview questions. These tools help shape content, but original, human storytelling is essential to maintain factual accuracy and prevent copyright infringement.
Storyboarding:
AI-powered platforms can transform textual descriptions of scenes into visual storyboards. This saves time and allows directors and producers to visualize the film before production starts.
Plot Structuring:
AI algorithms can analyze successful films in the same genre to suggest optimal story arcs, pacing and character development.
Concept Development
Concept Art:
AI tools like DALL-E or MidJourney can create detailed concept art for characters, costumes, props and environments based on textual prompts.
Character Design:
AI can help design unique characters, offering variations in appearance, attire and even personality traits.
Location Visuals:
AI can generate mock-ups of potential settings or create entirely fictional locations, giving content creators and filmmakers flexibility and inspiration during the planning phase.
AI can create a list of real locations that content creators and filmmakers can use or research online if they are public or private before scheduling.
Production
Virtual Production:
AI-powered environments can be used to recreate historical settings, visualize abstract concepts and enhance interview backdrops. This allows for greater creative flexibility without the need for costly on-location shoots.
Lighting and Camera Placement:
Generative AI tools can optimize lighting setups and camera angles based on the desired mood and cinematographic style of a scene. This ensures consistency and saves time during shoots.
Automated Background Elements:
AI can generate realistic background visuals, such as crowds, cityscapes and nature scenes to enhance footage. This technology helps content creators and filmmakers maintain authenticity while reducing the logistical challenges of filming in busy or remote locations.
Post-Production
Visual Effects (VFX):
AI can enhance VFX workflows by automating tasks like rotoscoping, compositing and creating complex simulations such as explosions or water effects.
Generative AI can create fantastical landscapes, creatures, or scenarios that would be difficult or expensive to produce manually.
Experimental Cinematography:
Generative AI can create new visual styles, such as hyper-realistic animations or abstract visuals, allowing content creators and filmmakers to experiment with unique aesthetics and storytelling techniques.
Editing:
AI-powered editing tools can automatically cut and sequence footage, suggest transitions and adjust pacing to align with the narrative flow.
Audio Enhancement:
AI can clean up noisy audio, balance sound levels and generate sound effects or background scores. Additionally, AI can synthesize voiceovers or dub performances into multiple languages while preserving an actor’s tone and emotion.
Distribution & Marketing
Personalized Trailers:
AI can analyze audience preferences to create customized trailers that appeal to specific demographics or regions. This ensures that promotional material resonates with diverse audiences.
Localization:
AI tools can translate and adapt scripts, subtitles and voiceovers due to language barriers for global audiences. Human oversight ensures respect for cultural nuances while maintaining the original intent of the film.
Audience Insights:
AI can analyze market trends and audience behaviours to predict how a film will be received. This helps content creators and filmmakers make informed decisions about release strategies and marketing campaigns.
Cost & Time Efficiency
Automating Repetitive Tasks:
Tasks like color correction, rotoscoping and frame interpolation can be automated with AI, reducing the time and manual effort required in post-production.
Budget Optimization
AI tools can suggest cost-effective alternatives for various aspects of filming such as location scouting and set design as well as aiding with business affairs such as financing and production scheduling. This ensures that resources are used efficiently without compromising quality.
Generative AI, when paired with human oversight, is a tool that can enhance content creation and filmmaking, opening up possibilities that were once unimaginable. As technology evolves, the potential for AI to reshape the industry will only grow, providing content creators and filmmakers with new ways to tell compelling stories.
AI Usage Considerations for your TELUS project
While using Generative AI in content creation and filmmaking opens up creative and new opportunities, it requires careful consideration. Here are key factors to keep in mind:
Ethical Considerations
To truly unlock the tremendous potential of AI, we must use it responsibly, ensuring we mitigate the challenges it can present and use in a way that’s friendly for all. We deploy AI responsibly, following ethical principles.
Copyright and Intellectual Property:
Ensure that AI-generated content doesn't infringe on copyrighted materials, as AI models may unintentionally replicate or adapt existing works. Particularly when it comes to documentary filmmaking because facts, news and history should be protected and not altered.
Bias in AI Models:
Be aware that AI systems can reflect biases in their training data. It is important to monitor outputs to avoid perpetuating stereotypes or harmful content as AI models trained on biased data can inadvertently perpetuate skewed narratives or misrepresent groups, historical events or social issues. Whenever possible, involve diverse perspectives in the development process to help identify and address potential biases.
Attribution:
Disclose the use of AI as a tool in the creative process during all stages of content creation and filmmaking especially when it helps with tasks like transcription, translation and generating voiceovers from archival materials to maintain transparency for the audience.
Consent:
Avoid generating likenesses of people or recreating voices without explicit consent from those you are utilizing voices from to prevent ethical and legal violations as well as to promote real voices.
Creative Authenticity
Maintaining Human Touch:
Balance AI-generated elements with human creativity to preserve authenticity and emotional depth as it’s essential to maintain the human element in all forms of storytelling.
Originality:
Use AI to enhance creativity, not replace it, ensuring that the work still stands out and resonates with audiences as the core should remain grounded in the real experiences and stories being told.
Avoid Overreliance:
Use AI as a supplement rather than the sole creator to prevent repetitive, generic and formulaic content, ensuring that human judgment and expertise are always present, especially when interpreting complex events or personal stories. AI can ‘hallucinate’ or make up responses and human oversight is required.
Respecting Indigenous Reconciliation:
TELUS has declared it will not use AI to create or replicate the art or imagery of Indigenous Peoples as part of our ongoing commitment to reconciliation with our data and ethics strategy. Visit telus.com/ResponsibleAI for more details.
Legal & Regulatory Compliance
Privacy:
AI should not be used as a replacement for legal advice to ensure compliance with privacy laws when using personal data for training or generating content, especially when working with sensitive or confidential material on real individuals.
Contracts and Licensing:
Check the terms of use for all AI tools that are used, such as those for generating voiceovers or translating interviews as well as ownership rights over generated content as some might have varying rules and regulations.
IP Protection and Sensitive Data:
Be aware of the terms and conditions of AI providers to ensure that your prompts and inputs used are not collected or stored by them. This step is crucial to protect intellectual property and maintain confidentiality of your work. Be particularly vigilant when working with proprietary or sensitive information to prevent unintended data retention or use by AI systems.
Union Rules:
If working with unionized talent (e.g., voice actors, consultants, etc.), ensure that AI usage complies with union agreements (e.g., SAG-AFTRA, UDA for voiceovers or likenesses).
Funding:
If the project received external funding, review the funders' guidelines for using AI in production as some organizations may have specific rules regarding how AI tools are used or may require disclosures in the final product.
Practical Application
Budget Management:
While AI can offer cost-saving opportunities in areas like transcription, translation and archival research, ensure that budget is also allocated to hire skilled human professionals, for core storytelling and fact-checking process functions.
Training and Skill Building:
Equip your team with the knowledge to effectively use AI tools to maximize their creative potential and apply the findings in an ethical and meaningful way rather than relying solely on the judgment of generative AI. Free resources are available at telus.com/ResponsibleAI.
Viewer Perception
Audience Expectations:
Understand how your audience perceives AI-generated content and ensure its use aligns with the factual nature of the project as transparency about AI’s role will help manage audience expectations.
Transparency:
Disclose the use of AI when it is used (e.g., on-screen, end credits, marketing materials, behind the scene clips, filmmaker statements, etc.) to avoid alienating viewers who value traditional content creation and filmmaking methods. Ensure that systems that could be mistaken for humans are clearly and prominently identified as AI systems.
Environmental Impact
Energy Use:
Consider the carbon footprint of training or deploying AI models and explore greener alternatives if possible as training and running AI models can consume vast amounts of energy for tasks like restoration or enhancement.
Data Storage:
Storing and processing vast amounts of video and AI-generated content (e.g., interviews, footage, research materials, etc.) requires significant energy usage from servers as data centers, often powered by non-renewable energy, contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions.
Accessibility
Diverse Outputs:
Use AI to open doors by creating content that sparks inspiration for a wide audience. Human oversight is required to properly reflect various cultures, languages and perspectives. Be mindful in your work of inclusivity and diverse audiences.
Assistive Features:
Leverage AI for good by enhancing accessibility in ways that would have been labour intensive without AI-usage, such as generating accurate subtitles, translations and audio descriptions, which can significantly improve access to your work for viewers with different needs.
Collaboration & Innovation
Human-centric AI:
Treat AI as a creative tool rather than its own individual entity, working collaboratively to explore new possibilities that might not emerge from traditional methods and amplifying human capacities rather than replacing them.
Experimentation:
Use AI to prototype ideas, visualize data or experiment with new narrative structures as AI can help create concepts that human creators can then refine and perfect for the final product.
By addressing these considerations, content creators and filmmakers can harness the power of Generative AI responsibly and effectively, while staying aligned with artistic and ethical values.
Checklist
The checklist below provides an easy-to-follow summary of every key point from the "Considerations when using AI for your TELUS project" section, making it simple and convenient for you to reference.
Ethical Considerations
Ensure all AI-generated content complies with copyright laws and does not replicate or adapt existing works.
Monitor AI outputs for biases to prevent perpetuating stereotypes or harmful content.
Attribute AI as a collaborator or tool in the creative process transparently across all stages of production. Disclosure might include the tool, date of use and prompt.
Obtain explicit consent from individuals when using likenesses, voices, or personal data in AI-generated content.
Creative Authenticity
Lead with human creativity and use AI as a tool to maintain emotional depth and authenticity.
Use AI to enhance originality and human-driven storytelling.
Avoid overreliance on AI to prevent creating repetitive or formulaic content.
Confirm that the outputs do not use AI technology to create or replicate the art of or imagery of Indigenous Peoples per TELUS’ Declaration on Artificial Intelligence (AI) Image Generation.
Ensure a human reviews all content created.
Legal & Regulatory Compliance
Review and comply with the terms of use for all AI tools, including ownership rights over generated content, IP protection checks.
Ensure compliance with privacy laws when handling personal data for training or generating content.
Protect intellectual property and sensitive data by ensuring AI providers do not collect or store prompts, inputs or proprietary materials.
Align AI usage with union agreements and other regulatory bodies (e.g., SAG-AFTRA).
Verify AI use aligns with guidelines of any additional funding sources received.
Practical Application
Allocate resources for skilled human professionals to oversee the AI-driven creative process.
Train team members to effectively use AI tools, enhancing collaboration and creativity.
Viewer Perception
Assess audience expectations regarding AI-generated content to ensure alignment with the project’s tone and vision.
Transparently disclose the use of AI in all relevant stages of production.
Environmental Impact
Minimize the carbon footprint of AI tools by considering energy-efficient or greener alternatives.
Monitor data storage and server usage to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from large-scale content processing.
Accessibility
Leverage AI to create content that reflects diverse cultures, languages and perspectives.
Use AI to enhance accessibility features, such as captions, translations and audio descriptions.
Collaboration & Innovation
Foster a partnership between human creators and AI tools, treating AI as a collaborative aid.
Use AI for prototyping or concept generation rather than sole reliance on the final output.
Key Contacts & Resources
STORYHIVE
TELUS originals
AI Tools
Text & Conversational AI
ChatGPT - Conversational AI for text-based interactions
Hugging Face - Platform for building machine learning models (text, vision, etc.)
Claude AI - Conversational AI and text analysis
Microsoft Copilot - AI assistance for text-based productivity (e.g., in Office apps)
Perplexity AI - Conversational AI with search capabilities
Grammarly - Grammar and style improvement for writing
Magic School AI - AI tools tailored for educational content and teaching
Notion AI - Productivity AI for content generation and organization
Gemini - AI for tasks like text generation, creative work and research assistance
Otter.ai - AI for transcription and meeting notes
Airtable AI - AI for database organization and automation
Generative Image & Design AI
DALL-E - AI for creating images from text descriptions
Midjourney - AI for creating artistic and photorealistic images from text
Adobe Firefly - Creative AI for image and video generation
Photoshop AI - AI tools within Photoshop for editing and enhancing images
DeepAI - General-purpose AI for generating images and art
Stability AI - AI-driven creative tools for image and video generation
Kaiber AI - AI for video generation and animation from text prompts
Ideogram - AI for creating designs and typography-focused visuals
Leonardo AI - AI for creating digital art and concept design
Canva Magic Design - AI-powered design assistant for templates and layouts
Fotor - AI for photo editing and enhancement
Photoleap - AI-powered photo editing and effects
Runway - AI tools for video editing, image generation and creative workflows
Video & Multimedia AI
Adobe Sensei AI - AI enhancements for video and photo editing in Adobe tools
Luma Labs - AI tools for 3D video rendering and editing
Opus Clip - AI for repurposing long videos into short clips
Artlist - AI tools for video and audio content creation
Kaiber AI - Video generation and animation from text
Runway - Video editing, motion capture and visual effects
Topaz Labs - AI tools for image and video quality enhancement
Audio & Voice AI
Revoicer - AI for creating synthetic voiceovers
AudioPod AI - AI for podcast creation and audio editing
Suno - AI for generating music, sound effects and voiceovers
TELUS Wise AI Workshop
TELUS Wise offers an online workshop that focuses on critical thinking skills in relation to AI. You can complete the TELUS Wise responsible AI workshop at telus.com/WiseWorkshops.
Other Resources
Last updated: March 18, 2025