Well, sit down and buckle up, because Hollywood is having a bit of a meltdown. Not the glamorous, Meryl Streep kind, but the kind where deepfakes and AI are coming for your jobs. It all started with a fake Ryan Reynolds, peddling Teslas on Twitter. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t Reynolds but a YouTuber using a deepfake to grab Musk’s attention. And boy, did it work.
This little drama has thrown a spotlight on the elephant in the room: AI is knocking on Hollywood’s door, and the actors aren’t rolling out the red carpet. They’re so peeved that the Writers Guild of America has already gone on strike, with the actors’ union teetering on the brink. The bone of contention? AI’s role in the industry and how it affects the creatives.
The Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has been sounding the alarm bells on AI for a while now. From de-aging Harrison Ford to resurrecting voices from the dead, Hollywood’s love affair with AI isn’t exactly new. But the union is now fighting for a contract to shield members from income loss due to “unregulated use of generative AI”. The clock is ticking, and if the actors strike, it’ll be a first since 2000.
Now, let’s delve into what’s really at stake here. Picture this: you land a TV gig only to be replaced by your AI clone a few seasons in, with no additional dough. SAG is trying to counter this by pushing for “informed consent” in contracts, to prevent this kind of exploitation.
But here’s the kicker: while actors can bank on publicity rights, writers aren’t as lucky. If an AI whips up a script after devouring hundreds of others, it’s unlikely to be seen as a copy of a specific script. And there’s the unsettling possibility of AI extracting valuable aspects from performers in ways that aren’t easily spotted.
It seems AI is becoming Hollywood’s shiny new toy to produce more content with fewer humans. But the issue of economic fairness looms large, especially with guild members struggling to stay afloat in the middle-class sea. AI could turn out to be the villain in this story, with union strikes looming ominously on the horizon. As SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, puts it, “They’ve got a 2023 business model for streaming with a 1970 business model for paying performers and writers and other creatives in the industry. That is not OK”1.
