AI and the Hollywood Deal: Facing the Monster in the Closet
As the creative world comes out of a six-month-long strike across TV, film, and entertainment, cries in the fight between AI advocates and naysayers continue to grow louder.
After a long-awaited and hard-fought deal between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), and a historic deal between the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA) and Hollywood studios, actors, writers, and producers have been eager to get back to work. But, the fight over AI in Hollywood is far from over. The question, yet to be answered is, “Will there be any winners, or will compromise be the stabilizing factor?”
SAG-AFTRA members are currently in a ratification voting period to finalize the contract that would increase wages, benefits, and other rights. As many were relieved to see the SAG-AFTRA deal cross the finish line, there has been staunch opposition to ratifying the contract vote because the deal includes AI.
Many actors have expressed disapproval of their work being duplicated by AI. During summer picketing, actors expressed concerns that AI is being used to recreate their voices, bodies, images, and actions without informing them, offering credits, or providing compensation for the work. The underlying fear in the acting community is that AI will replace human talent.
SAG-AFTRA this week is in an educational campaign hoping to inform and possibly persuade members to accept the AI terms which enacts compensation and consent requirements if AI is used to create “digital doubles” of actors. Some actors strictly oppose the approval of AI altogether. In a quote to Variety Magazine, SAG-AFTRA board member Anne-Marie Johnson expressed her complete opposition.
“There should be no AI. Only human beings should be used in what we create for public consumption,” Johnson said. “Without staving off AI, everything we achieved is for naught. It’s a waste of time.”
Monday SAG-AFTRA launched a town hall ahead of a meeting Wednesday night. The group also released several social media posts explaining AI and its use in film and TV. In a 17-page summary of the SAG-AFTRA deal, AI takes up more than 5 pages.
Those who support the deal bring in practicality that there is no reasonable way to continue to avoid the growth and popularity of AI and the industry must adjust to embrace technology and also protect the work of human artists.
The advancements of AI can not only be seen as a technological marvel but a cost-saving metric as well. Physical production on location can cost millions per hour whereas an AI-generated production option could cost millions. AI-generated work could save 5% to 10% off of what could be a $50 million comedy production, according to a study conducted by Bain and Company.
On the national scale, President Biden addressed the need to safeguard cyber security in the midst of growing AI advancements. Biden signed an executive order to place limits and regulations on the use of AI. In one section The President seeks to have AI-generated work labeled as such so that it does not deceive the public by being presented as authentic content. He is calling on Congress to pass data protection legislation.
But who decides where to draw the line? Hollywood’s strikes jolted the industry and had an impact across sectors. It brought the widespread use of the technology to the forefront of American consciousness in a way that it hadn’t been before. What seemed mythical or aspirational to some became a very present reality in a short period of time. Education around the technology is still needed. The SAG-AFTRA Instagram campaign explains the concept of digital replicas in posts with more than 20,000 likes in less than 20 hours. The union also explains how background actors can be digitized, stating, “A background actor digital replica is a digital version of a background actor’s voice or likeness, made with the actor physically present for scenes they didn’t actually film.”
The actors and other social media users are in a digital uproar in the comment sections of the latest SAG-AFTRA Instagram posts that provide AI definitions and actor consent guidelines. “Absolutely NOT. This is not a win,” one user wrote. Others expressed concerns over the clauses regarding consent stating “If consent is a condition of employment, it’s not consent.” It’s unclear if the union expected this level of pushback against the contract, but it’s still actively engaging and encouraging members to vote in favor.
What happens in the next few months is yet to be seen as studios look to recoup costs and still produce lower-budget work.
Canceling AI is not an option. Canceling human talent also shouldn’t be. For now, the discussion table is open and loud as the two worlds collide into one another.
