AMPTP Wants To Scan Actors And Use Their Likeness Forever With No Consent Or Compensation
The WGA has been on strike for months now, but SAG-AFTRA (Hollywood’s actor guild) just joined the strike today after negotiations broke down between the guild and the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers (AMPTP).
The AMPTP wants to scan actors’ faces and use their likeness in an ongoing fashion.
Picketing is expected to start Friday, and AI is a big point of contention in the negotiations. Apparently, the AMPTP’s plans for AI are scarier than we realize. SAG chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said they want to scan actors and use their likenesses without consent or compensation.
AI is a rapidly evolving technology that undoubtedly has its use in industries like tech and medicine, but replacing background actors and then using their likeness without paying them definitely shouldn’t be one of its uses. Not paying these people would be bad enough, but the fact that the AMPTP allegedly wants to do it without consent is even worse.
It’ll be interesting to see if we learn more about the AI proposals that were brought up in these conversations as the strike continues.
While the talks with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA with the AMPTP have happened behind closed doors, the main points of concern have been revealed by both parties publically. There are a lot of different points on the table, but some of the biggest and most notable are the regulation of AI in the industry and compensation renegotiations for streaming residuals.
Some of the biggest and most notable bargaining points are around the regulation of AI in the industry and compensation renegotiations for streaming residuals.
The streaming portion of the conversation has echoes of when the WGA went on an extended strike to renegotiate pay in the wake of online downloadable content through platforms like iTunes, but artificial intelligence is a completely new part of the conversation.
Both points make total sense, and it’s strange that the AMPTP seems to be refusing to budge much on either. The entertainment landscape has undoubtedly changed since the last round of contract negotiations, and many studios refuse to release streaming viewership numbers.
This could give writers and actors some insight into how many viewers their work is bringing to these streaming platforms. Also, AI replacing actors and writers is something that almost nobody could want, but that would undoubtedly be profitable for the studios.
It makes sense that AI could be used in some capacity, such as helping writers to format scripts or check for errors during the writing process. AI is also used a lot in visual effects, such as helping with de-aging technology to make older actors look like convincing young versions of themselves on screen.
Not paying these people would be bad enough, but the fact that the AMPTP allegedly wants to do it without consent is even worse.
But it seems like the studios represented by the AMPTP would prefer the regulations to be looser if these comments are true and that they would prefer if they can have free rein with how they use the technologies.
This is far from the last time we’ll hear news about the ongoing strikes and the negotiations between the AMPTP and Hollywood’s guilds. There’s no word yet on when they will reconvene to try and reach agreeable terms again, but it seems like Hollywood is essentially shut down for now. We’ll keep you updated on any new developments.
