On Thursday, that crisis hit another major milestone when the Screen Actors Guild—American Federation of Television and Radio Artists —went on strike. Like the Writers Guild of America, which is also on strike, one of the biggest disputes was over AI. Leading up to the strike, one SAG member” episode as a “documentary of the future” and another told the outlet that the streamers and studios—which include Warner Bros.
Actors want that, too. But the way AI could impact their work looks very different. Unlike writers, actors can’t necessarily be trained to use those tools to produce their work—the AI was trained. Yes, if generative AI creates, say, a scene in a film, actors will have to be hired to give those performances, but it’s easy to see why they want protections on the use of their likenesses—and are willing to strike to get them.
Hollywood’s glitzy stars taking a stand to keep AI in check feels like a turning point, especially this week when the US Federal Trade Commission alsointo ChatGPT maker OpenAI.