The Hollywood writers’ strike ended Wednesday after the Writers Guild of America reached a pact with studios. The union’s leadership unanimously recommended that members support the agreement, which includes steps to protect workers from the threat of artificial intelligence.
Under the agreement, which members will vote on next week, KI is not allowed to write or rewrite literary material. AI-generated material may also not be used to undermine an author’s reputation or certain relevant copyrights.
“I’m sure the basic controls for using AI are more than the studios wanted to agree to,” Patricia Phalen, associate director of the George Washington University School of Media and Public Affairs, told Barron’s.
The deal leaves the door open for writers to use AI, but they need approval from the respective studio. A studio cannot force them to use AI software to write, and studios must also disclose to a writer whether the materials provided to them were generated by AI or contain AI-generated content.
The explosion of interest in generative AI follows the public launch of ChatGPT last year, which left union organizers struggling to set guidelines for employers’ use of the technology.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
The WGA strike is, by all accounts, the first industrial action in which AI was a central issue.
“AI guardrails will be the concrete wall that more workers and industries look to build in the face of this generational shift in technology,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told Barron’s. “The writers’ strike is just the tip of the iceberg and what lies ahead for the industry and consumer ecosystem in 2024 and beyond.”
The US Copyright Office notes that copyright can only protect material that is the product of human creativity, which could prevent studios from excluding human authors entirely.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
After the writers’ strike ends, attention will turn to the Screen Actors Guild strike itself. George Washington’s Phalen points out that AI is important for actors because the technology can imitate likenesses and speech. SAG-AFTRA’s demands include protecting actors’ images and performances to prevent humans from being replaced by AI technology.
“AI is so unknown and everyone is threatened by it in one way or another,” says Phalen. “I’m not sure this can all be tied together in a nice, neat little bow until we really understand what AI is capable of.”
It’s not just Hollywood unions trying to assess the problem. AI is showing up in contract negotiations for news media writers, says Jon Schleuss, president of NewsGuild-CWA. The NewsGuild represents around 18,000 journalists in 220 different media outlets. Schleuss says journalists are “extremely concerned” about how their employers might implement generative AI.
Advertisement – Scroll to continue
IAPE, the union that represents part of Barron’s newsroom, is affiliated with NewsGuild.
“We want to make sure that journalists are actually doing journalism and have the opportunity to use the technology as they see fit,” says Schleuss. “We want workers to have control of this, but we don’t want companies, particularly hedge funds and private equity groups, to use it as an opportunity to replace journalists. “That would be extremely devastating.”
Write to Connor Smith at [email protected]