Pinewood Studios

• Film and television actors in the US came out on strike on July 14, causing Hollywood productions to shut down.
• The dispute is about remuneration for actors, very few of whom enjoy the high income of Hollywood stars.
• But an additional argument between the union, SAG-AFTRA, and film producers is about the use of artificial intelligence (AI).

‘Synthetic media’

• This covers processes such as deepfakes, voice cloning, visual effects (VFX) created using AI, and completely synthetic image and video generation.
• I have written before about deepfakes for The Conversation, pointing out the benefits as well as dangers.
• This is a major gender-based issue: it’s almost always female actors whose images are manipulated and used in this way.

Background actors

• The actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, is particularly concerned about background actors – or “extras” – being exploited by producers using AI manipulation.
• In the union’s special agreement for background actors, which lists the additional payments that they should receive, there is currently nothing stated about the AI use of recorded footage – the arrival of new technology necessitates a negotiated deal with the producers.

Ethical dimension

• The current situation is that actors feel obliged to sign away their rights “in all media” and “in perpetuity”.
• Last week, the union also held rallies in Manchester and London in support of their striking counterparts in the US.
• But fear is the stronger emotion here: AI is a new technology that sparks deep and legitimate fears for screen actors.
• Unless they can be reassured about their future, American actors will not be returning to the studios soon.