AI and the Hollywood Strikes

On May 2, 2023, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike. The strike, which is still ongoing, occurred in response to several disputes with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television producers (AMPTP). These included issues that have commonly been involved in workers’ strikes throughout history, such as poor pay and understaffing. However, one of the writers’ greatest concerns is one that until now has been entirely unprecedented: the use of artificial intelligence (such as ChatGPT) in the workplace. The WAG is worried about AI stealing their jobs, and not without reason. Currently, AI is not powerful enough to competently write an entire, movie-ready screenplay. It is capable, however, of brainstorming script ideas and producing rough drafts that human writers can adjust as necessary. And it is only getting better with time. The WGA demands that AI may not be credited in the making of or used to generate the source material for a screenplay. They also ask that the work of human screenplay writers not be fed to AI for data training. Click here

SAG-AFTRA (the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists), which is also on strike, has similar concerns about the use of artificial intelligence in Hollywood. AI is capable of generating the voices and faces of specific people in real life; if it saves the characteristics of a certain actor, it can recreate the image of that person in all future projects. This means that actors’ likenesses can be used without their consent, even after their deaths. Background actors, in particular, are threatened by AI - their image can be reused an unlimited number of times in movies and TV shows, without the actors working on set at all. One of SAG-AFTRA’s demands for the studios is that AI be banned from this sort of use. Click here

The results of these two strikes, particularly the ways in which the studios decide to regulate AI, could have an enormous impact on the entertainment industry - and even beyond. AI and its capabilities are still very new to the world. Many people have only recently begun to consider the real-life impacts and ethical dilemmas that such technology brings; as a result, the conversations surrounding AI and its use can become fairly controversial. Furthermore, there are very few regulations currently put in place to handle artificial intelligence. The decisions made to control AI in Hollywood could set a precedent for how such issues are navigated in the future. At the very least, they will have a major impact on the lives and careers of writers, actors, and filmmakers across the country - not to mention American media as a whole. Think about it: if AI is allowed to write screenplays and generate screen actors’ likenesses, what does that mean for human creators and industries everywhere? Click here