AI...Hollywood Writers' BIG Foe

 A big part of the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike against the Hollywood studios and content streamers is to prevent machines from writing any 'literary material'... and, so far, this issue regarding the use of AI has been met with outright rejection!

From LA to NYC the WGA has been out in full force. Over 11,500 writers have put down their pencils and picked up a 'strike' sign. 

Strikers at studios in LA

WGA Strikers in NYC

At issue are negotiations regarding maintaining writers' rooms, guaranteed employment length, improved residuals from content streamers, and, the biggie, curtailing the use of AI in the entertainment industry. 

"We're fighting to stop the streamers and the studios from turning writing from a career into a gig-job, says Adam Conover, a writer and comedian. "They're trying to take away our jobs and employ us one day a week like we're Uber drivers. We're fighting for fairness."

The strike targets the rise of Artificial Intelligence, demanding safeguards against the use of AI in generating content. The WGA would require studios/streamers to regulate the use of AI on all projects: AI can't write or rewrite literary material and can't be used as source material.

Ray Romano and many other writers/actors have joined the strike.

For the moment, the studios and streamers outright rejected the AI limitations proposal and countered "by offering annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology."  Which is more of a placating posture than substantive discussion. 

The legal implications of AI add to the complexity of the issue. According to Leigh Brecheen, an entertainment attorney, "The legal system isn't designed with AI in mind. For example, you cannot copyright a work that isn't written by a human. This raises lots of questions about how precious intellectual property can be protected and when the threshold of human vs AI creation is passed."

Julia Louis-Dreyfus on picket line in LA

AI is a rapidly developing and improving technology. While many dismiss the possibility of AI fully replacing writers, the truth is, no one really knows what can happen in the future. This begs the question: Would the WGA ever accept an AI as a member of the union?

Cinema Mucho Gusto (CMG) doesn't think the WGA would ever allow this to happen. But there is the real risk that in a few years, you won't need humans to write scripts, books, or anything else for that matter.

According to Leigh Brecheen, "The greatest challenge for all of us is to find ways to retain our humanity. We cannot let ourselves become slaves to any technology or ideology." 

The solution to Leigh's issue may lie in Web3. CMG believes that both the writers and studios may find the answer in blockchain technology. 

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From a content creator's perspective, blockchain technology really affords a lot of opportunity for control and ownership of your own content and the ability to leverage that content through smart contracts. This is very critical to the future of content creators as AI generated content is not considered intellectual property. Nonetheless, AI is rapidly ramping up on the tech, image, and video creation sides. 

In the flip side are the content users, which have not been discussed. AI, CMG believes, is actually pushing us into Web3 where control goes back into the creators' hands and the user can participate in the actual content creation, ownership, and special use and access to that content.     

Web3 maybe the answer

There is a final question to be answered. AI vs. AI. Which program will develop the best stories, the best scripts, the most 'thoughtful, meaningful, and humanistic' content?

Jim Lavorato