"Human Touch" Remains Essential to Film in the Age of AI, Says Netflix Panel at Creative Asia

A Netflix-hosted panel at the Creative Asia forum in Busan revealed that more than 300 of the streamer's titles already use AI across pre-visualisation, production, editorial, and VFX. Sung Q Lee, Netflix's senior director of APAC production, framed the technology as a way to "move beyond constraints and limitations" rather than simply cut costs — while stressing that the "human touch" remains critical and that AI alone cannot deliver emotional resonance.

South Korean director Kang Yun-sung (Run To The West, The Outlaws) reported saving up to 40% of his budget on his upcoming feature Gulf of Aden by using AI to shorten the production period, arguing the technology could help Korean cinema reach its "full potential" after years of budgetary limits. Weta FX CTO Kimball Thurston rounded out the panel with a call for precision in the discourse: "assistive AI," he said, is "not allowed to change the creative intent in any way," urging the industry to avoid treating "all AI like one big giant."