Tinseltown deals with AI

NOT SO HOT on the heels of the end of industrial action by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which formally settled its dispute with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers on 9 October, the so-called "actors' union" in Hollywood, the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), finally ended its own strike exactly one month later on 9 November.

Both unions' deals include clauses on the use of artificial intelligence.

One of the WGA's key demands had been for assurances that generative AI would only be used as a tool for research and to facilitate script ideas, rather than replace writers altogether. This matter appears to have been settled - for the time being at least, given that the technology is constantly shifting.

For the performers, SAG-AFTRA said it had won "unprecedented provisions for consent and compensation that will protect members from the threat of AI".

© Alistair Dabbs