A Note by Reilly Alridge
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The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strikes of 2023 sparked major controversy over the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in the entertainment industry.[1] Writers have fears of AI being used to take over their script-writing jobs and reduce their bargaining power for pay.[2] Actors have fears of AI being used to replace the work of background actors and using their scanned body images posthumously without permission from the actor or the actor’s estate.[3]
[1] See Andrew Dalton, The Hollywood Writers Strike is Over After Guild Leaders Approve Contract with Studios, The Associated Press (Sept. 26, 2023, 10:24 PM), https://apnews.com/article/writers-strike-deal-hollywood-vote-actors-d3119d670a4fd3449773bf8f4026fb2b; see also Megan Cerullo, SAG-AFTRA Reaches Tentative Agreement with Hollywood Studios in a Move to End Nearly 4-Month Strike, CBS News (Nov. 9, 2023, 1:33 PM), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sag-aftra-strike-update-actors-2023/.
[2] See Matt Scherer, New WGA Labor Agreement Gives Hollywood Writers Important Protections in the Era of AI, Ctr. for Democracy and Tech. (Oct. 17, 2023), https://cdt.org/insights/new-wga-labor-agreement-gives-hollywood-writers-important-protections-in-the-era-of-ai/.
[3] See Matt Scherer, The SAG-AFTRA Strike is Over, But the AI Fight in Hollywood is Just Beginning, Ctr. for Democracy and Tech. (Jan. 4, 2024), https://cdt.org/insights/the-sag-aftra-strike-is-over-but-the-ai-fight-in-hollywood-is-just-beginning/.