![]() While film and TV writers in Hollywood may currently be leading the charge, professionals in other industries will almost certainly be paying attention. Picketing has begun in front of Netflix in Hollywood, California on May 2, 2023. “The WGA is simply trying to get out-in-front of and to protect their members against … ‘technological unemployment.’” “AI is already displacing human labor in many other areas of content creation-copywriting, journalism, SEO writing, and so on,” he said. ![]() And the impact may hit sooner than some think: IBM’s CEO recently suggested AI could eliminate the need for thousands of jobs at his company alone in the next five years.ĭavid Gunkel, a professor at the department of communications at Northern Illinois University who tracks AI in media and entertainment, said screenwriters want clear guidelines around AI because “they can see the writing on the wall.” White-collar workers, including those in administrative and legal roles, are expected to be the most affected. Goldman Sachs economists estimate that as many as 300 million full-job jobs globally could be automated in some way by the newest wave of AI. The writers’ attempt at bargaining over AI is perhaps the most high-profile labor battle yet to address concerns about the cutting-edge technology that has captivated the world’s attention in the six months since the public release of ChatGPT. It added that the current WGA agreement defines a “writer” as a “person,” and said “AI-generated material would not be eligible for writing credit.” So it’s something that requires a lot more discussion, which we’ve committed to doing.” “Writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing how credits are determined, which is complicated given AI material can’t be copyrighted. ![]() “AI raises hard, important creative and legal questions for everyone,” it wrote. In a document sent to CNN responding to some of WGA’s asks, AMPTP said it values the work of creatives and “the best stories are original, insightful and often come from people’s own experiences.” August said AMPTP’s response shows they want to keep their options open. WGA said the proposal was rejected by AMPTP, which countered by offering annual meetings to discuss advancements in the technology. In a proposal published on WGA’s website this week, the labor union said AI should be regulated so it “can’t write or rewrite literary material, can’t be used as source material” and that writers’ work “can’t be used to train AI.”Īugust said the AI demand “was one of the last things” added to the WGA list, but that it’s “clearly an issue writers are concerned about” and need to address now rather than when their contact is up again in three years. But as part of their demands, the WGA is also fighting to protect their livelihoods from AI. WGA is demanding a host of changes from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), from an increase in pay to receiving clear guidelines around working with streaming services. Santiago/Getty ImagesĬord cutting, streaming losses and the 'terrifying math' driving the writers strike ![]() Union members have stated that they are not being paid fairly in the streaming era and are seeking pay increases and structural changes to the business model. Negotiations between a top guild and a trade association that represents Hollywood's top studios failed to avert the first walkout in more than 15 years. WGA members were out on the first day of a Hollywood voters strike after the board of directors for the Writers Guild of America, which includes West Coast and East Coast branches, voted unanimously to call for a walkout. NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MAY 02: Members of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) East hold signs as they walk on the picket-line outside of the Peacock NewFront on in New York City. “The work that we do can’t be replaced by these systems.”Īugust is one of the more than 11,000 members of the WGA who went on strike Tuesday morning, bringing an immediate halt to the production of some television shows and possibly delaying the start of new seasons of others later this year. ![]() “Screenwriters are concerned about our scripts being the feeder material that is going into these systems to generate other scripts, treatments, and write story ideas,” August, a Writers Guild of America (WGA) committee member, told CNN. While there are clearly limits for how well AI tools can produce compelling creative stories, these tools are only getting more advanced, putting writers like August on guard. He’s written such films as “Big Fish,” “Charlie’s Angels” and “Go.” But even he is concerned about the impact AI could have on his work.Ī powerful new crop of AI tools, trained on vast troves of data online, can now generate essays, song lyrics and other written work in response to user prompts. By any standard, John August is a successful screenwriter. ![]()
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