American screenwriters liken AI-generated content to plagiarism

The Writers Guild of America, East (WGA) said that the use of artificial intelligence algorithms to write texts is unacceptable.

The WGA’s proposal to regulate use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies ensures the Companies can’t use AI to undermine writers’ working standards including compensation, residuals, separated rights and credits. #WGAStrong
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— Writers Guild of America, East (@WGAEast) March 22, 2023

Earlier, Variety reported that WGA, in negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), proposed allowing writers and studios to partially use AI tools.

The publication says the union is prepared to embrace the technology if it does not affect pay or credit attribution in the credits. For this, the WGA proposed not to treat the generated content as “literary material” or “source material”. These two key specifications directly affect writers’ work.

Thus, the proposal would allow writers to use AI to generate drafts, preserve their pay and have their name credited in the credits.

The publication drew a wave of criticism from the writing community.

In response, the union issued an official statement that does not contradict the Variety report but clarifies the organization’s position.

«Companies cannot use AI to undermine writers’ working standards, including pay, royalties, separate rights and credits»

The WGA clarified that the proposal bans using AI-generated content as source material or for rewriting work covered by the agreement. They explained that text-generation algorithms are trained, in part, on copyrighted works.

«It’s important to note that AI does not create anything. It only repeats what is fed into it»

At the end of the thread, union representatives wrote:

«Plagiarism is a feature of the AI process».

In April 2022, British actors spoke out against the use of artificial intelligence in the film industry.