"It’s Only a Movie" is the title of a campy 1990 horror flick about an ongoing movie shoot where individual members of the cast and crew start to mysteriously disappear.
Could this fictional scenario also describe what's actually going on in Hollywood now?
Hollywood sets have gone totally dark.
A central reason for the recent Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) strike is that actors, writers, and other entertainment artists are super nervous about Artificial Intelligence (AI) making them and their jobs obsolete.
When the strike was first announced, current president of SAG-AFTRA Fran Drescher was at the mike to address the press.
Drescher, the former lead actress of the 1990s hit CBS TV sitcom "The Nanny," heads the union that boasts a membership of over 160,000 film and television actors.
Interestingly, the writers’ union had gone on strike a couple of months back. But now that SAG-AFTRA has also taken to the picket line, the situation in Hollywood is looking pretty bleak.
The last time both unions were on strike simultaneously was over 60 years ago, when none other than then-actor (who ultimately turned president of the United States) Ronald Reagan was wearing the union president’s hat.
Like every other aspect of our lives, things presently appear to be out of whack.
The brand of Hollywood itself is in tatters, in large part because of the cultural and political agendas that permeate every nook and cranny of the town.
What has particularly outraged the public, though, are the productions that have been coming from major studios, chock-full of vile and inappropriate imagery, content, and messaging aimed straight at our kids and teens.
Could the Hollywood shutdown created by the two entertainment unions be a blessing in disguise?
A lot of consumers of entertainment fare are viewing it this way, as if maybe a wrench in the works was exactly what was needed to stop the madness.
Striking actors and writers have reason to be concerned about the capability of AI models to supplant human beings in the manufacture of entertainment products.
Creative types are also increasingly astonished at the sheer capabilities of generative AI models, which can digitally produce what would typically have been created by human beings, but in a faster and less expensive way.
AI ingests the works and images of human artists as part of its training data. The technology can then alter and/or mash-up content, allowing entertainment companies to avoid compensating the people who originally created the works or were even the subjects of images used.
Additionally, other creative types such as musicians and visual artists are carefully watching the entertainment business battle, as are all those who work in an array of fields that will no doubt be affected by AI’s implementation.
We are already witnessing the technological replacement of human beings in a host of industries. Still, the entertainment business has a unique opportunity to do something helpful for society at large.
The manner in which Hollywood resolves the two strikes could set the marker, not only for the entertainment industry but for other businesses as well.
Digitally created trailers and scenes featuring what appear to be well known actors have popped up all over the internet. The virtual phenom is posing legal and ethical concerns that the unions are obliged to address.
At a recent press conference, Drescher warned, "If we don’t stand tall right now, we are all going to be in trouble. We are all going to be in jeopardy of being replaced by machines."
SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland indicated during a press conference that a proposal by the studios would put background performers at a terrible disadvantage.
"They propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan of their image, their likeness, and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity," Crabtree-Ireland said.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), which represents major studios including Walt Disney and Netflix, issued a statement suggesting that the claim made by SAG-AFTRA leadership is untrue.
An AMPTP spokesperson told ZDNET that the use of digital replicas would be restricted to the specific motion picture for which the actor is employed, and that any additional use would require the actor’s permission.
"Any other use requires the background actor's consent and bargaining for the use, subject to a minimum payment," the spokesperson stated.
This strike over AI is just the opening scene.
Sit yourself down and get ready for an epic drama.
Only this time the real-life characters who meet their demise aren’t going to be saying, "It’s only a movie."
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.
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