Hollywood actors begin strike over AI use

The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) has authorised a strike against the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in the film industry.

Ninety-eight per cent of guild members voted in favour of the initiative. The strike began at midnight on 14 July.

“The world’s views, especially workers’, are focused on us. … When employers choose Wall Street and greed as their priority and forget the essential participants who keep the machinery running, we have a problem,” said SAG-AFTRA president and actress Fran Drescher.

According to the organisation, AI poses an “existential threat” to performers, which studios refuse to acknowledge. Some actors are concerned that the technology could be used to recreate their likenesses without consent or appropriate compensation.

SAG-AFTRA initially held talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), but the organisations were unable to reach a consensus.

“Unfortunately, the union has chosen a path that will lead to financial hardship for countless thousands of people who depend on the industry,” AMPTP said.

During the demonstrations, actors are prohibited from appearing in front of cameras and promoting existing projects. Producers fear that some scheduled premieres may be postponed if the pickets run into autumn.

SAG-AFTRA joined the Writers Guild of America (WGA). In March, WGA stated that the use of AI algorithms to create texts is unacceptable, calling such content “plagiarism.”

Actors and writers have not staged a joint strike since 1960. Yet their demands today are of a similar nature — higher pay and regulation of new technologies.

As a reminder, in July American actress Sarah Silverman filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms and OpenAI for copyright infringement. According to the lawsuit, the companies used copyrighted content to train the large language model LLaMA and the ChatGPT chatbot without obtaining any prior permission.