By Michael ScottHollywood writers support the ongoing strike to avert the AI invasion of streaming studios and services.
The writers consider AI the primary elephant threatening to render them jobless. The writers are concerned about including a clause allowing the utilization of artificial intelligence.
Writers Resist AI Takeover in Hollywood
In particular, the writers seek to bar artificial intelligence machines from handling literary material. However, the Writers Guild of America West (WGA) revealed that studios are yet to accept the proposal.
The involvement of WGA is critical, given it is one of the leading unions globally within the entertainment sphere. WGA represents US-based writers. Its management reveals that writers exceeding 11500 confirm swapping their pens to embrace WGA. The writers are swapping for WGA, seeking negotiations to safeguard their involvement in the writing rooms.
Besides, the striking writers are seeking guaranteed employment terms and better retainers, citing the surge in streaming services. The disgruntled writers seek pause for continued AI utilisation within the industry.
The renowned comedian Adam Conover revealed that the strike involved a fight to wrestle studios and streamers to convert the writing career into a gig task. He added that the strike constitutes a means to delist their input, a process that will transform their careers into a single-day gig.
AI-Generated Content Threatens to Extinguish Writers’ Careers
Conover dismissed the attempts to treat them as Uber drivers. The artist considers such attempts prompting the need to fight for fairness. The striking writers are concerned about emphasising AI in content generation. To them, safeguarding their careers by pausing AI-generated content.
WGA is petitioning studios to moderate the utilisation of artificial intelligence, particularly on MBA-covered initiatives. WGA holds that AI should write or rewrite literary material. Also, the union rules out AI use as the source material. The petition considers that studios should not utilise the MBA-covered material in training AI.
WGA is considering that the minimum bargaining agreement (MBA) features writers’ benefits and rights within the union. The WGA statement prompted public negotiations that studios dismissed the WGA petition instead of offering an annual meeting to consider technology advancements.
Prioritise AI Regulation
The legal implications of AI in the entertainment industry add another layer of complexity. Leigh Brecheen from Brecheen, Fieldman, Silver & Thompson LLP law firm termed AI a new frontier and unresolved minefield. The specialist attorney in entertainment criticised the legal system design as failing to consider AI.
The Los Angeles-based attorney laments the law makes it challenging to copyright the work written by nonhuman means. It raises concerns on how to safeguard IP and when to qualify the work as AI creation.
Brecheen restated the need for the entertainment industry stakeholders to acknowledge that AI is rapidly improving. He laments that stakeholders often forget to recognise rapid improvement. He considers it quite early to dismiss the capability of AI making writers redundant since no party is certain of how the process will unfold.
AI Should Prioritize Human Flourishing
Richard Thompson, who heads the Hollywood law firm, downplayed the possibility of WGA admitting membership of AI into the union. He observes the diminished probability of WGA admitting AI into the union.
Thompson considers that the continued utilisation of AI would eliminate the need to involve human labour. He expresses concern that such is risky since it could leave the worker’s input obsolete.
Thompson challenges stakeholders to define AI before the situation becomes exceedingly late actively. He observes that though the AI technology allure is undeniable, stakeholders should continually remember it affects human lives.
Thompson considers the greatest challenge to be identifying the ways to retain humanity. He emphasises the need to avoid becoming slaves to new ideologies and technologies.
Instead, the attorney believes that prioritising human flourishing would eliminate the challenges tech executives consider harboured by AI, thereby leading to a better world.