Fuji Television announced plans to fully introduce generative AI across all drama productions. It will establish an AI Sandbox at Gulf Coast Studio and aims to have a system in place for using AI across all productions by October next year.
Fuji Television has established the AI Sandbox, an experimental facility for using generative AI in drama production, at Gulf Coast Studio and is already expanding its use in dramas currently on air. In reported cases to date, using AI reduced work hours by up to 70–80%.
In an organizational change in July, the company established an AI Center within the Digital Strategy Office and began operating the AI Sandbox in September. Drama production staff, technical staff and AI-related companies are working together to verify potential applications.
Under its future plans, the company will designate at least one drama per quarter as an AI-enhanced production from October 2026, and aims to have a system in place by October 2027 that enables AI to be used according to the production and scene in every drama it produces. In fiscal 2029, it also aims to become Japan's leading company in AI application capabilities across Fuji Media Holdings as a whole.
As specific examples, for Emergency Room 24 Hours, generative AI was used before filming to visualize the completed look of the footage, process footage of medical scenes and depict accident sites, and composite smoke into AI-generated aerial footage of the explosion accident scene in Episode 1.