Why AI use is a core issue in the Hollywood writers’ strike

Yet one unique grievance of this strike is very particular to our current times: AI taking people’s jobs.

Yes, the current boom in the technology and the public imagination through the likes of ChatGPT has seen consumers and businesses alike incorporating it into their day-to-day operations. And when faced with growing external costs, and staff asking for more money to partially meet those costs, then some businesses are seeing AI as remedy to both these issues.

Since the strike began in May, the Writers Guild of America (WGA), one of the main unions representing 11,500 screenwriters, have been demanding from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, in writing, that AI can only be used for research purposes, and not to ever replace them.

Speaking on the strikes, comedian and screenwriter Elliott Kalan said that one of the biggest challenges writers now face is the threat of studio executives using AI to generate original ideas for movies or TV series.

This represents a double blow for some creatives, as not only could it stand to take work from them, but the machine learning models it has used to generate new ideas has in many cases been based off their works. In July, US comedian and author Sarah Silverman launched a legal challenge against ChatGPT developer OpenAI and Meta for copyright infringement over claims that their models were trained on her work without permission. Once fed the initial input, these models can go on to replicate new material in the style of the creator.

The strike is the largest interruption to American television and film production since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as well as the largest labour withdrawal the WGA has undertook since its last strike in 2007-2008.

This comes amid a broader concern of the implications AI will soon realise on the working world. Goldman Sachs have predicted this boom in AI could lead to 18% of work worldwide being automated, and creative industries such as content and image creation are looking like they will be some of the first.

Wider calls to take the reins from AI have come from politicians, advocacy groups, experts and even the creator of ChatGPT itself to regulate it over the potential disruption it can cause to society.

Previously, countries like Italy had implemented a temporary ban of ChatGPT over issues surrounding privacy, and Canada’s head privacy commissioner has an ongoing investigation into the AI firm, with watchdogs in Germany, France, Ireland and Spain mulling similar action. No Western nation has yet imposed any major regulation regarding its use or implementation.