Hollywood Unions Win 2023 AI Guardrails as They Reject Extinction Warnings

2 articles · Updated · The Verge · Sep 18

SAG-AFTRA and WGA East said Hollywood workers already have enforceable AI protections and urged attention on concrete harms such as job loss, digital replicas and disinformation rather than apocalypse scenarios.
2023 strikes secured key guardrails, including requirements that studios obtain permission and compensate actors before using AI-generated likenesses; union leaders said those terms slowed incentives to replace human performances.
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said some extinction warnings may be overblown, while Sam Wheeler argued AI companies' "recklessness" and lack of regulation pose immediate threats to workers, democracy and energy costs.
Studios including Disney, Netflix, Amazon and Lionsgate did not respond to requests for comment, leaving labor groups as the clearest Hollywood voices as broader AI safety alarms spread through the tech sector.