Generative AI and Hollywood Can Co-Exist

Numa Dhamani is an engineer and researcher working at the intersection of technology and society at KUNGFU.AI. Maggie Engler is an engineer and researcher currently working on safety for large language models at Inflection AI. Numa and Maggie co-authored a forthcoming book, Introduction to Generative AI: An Ethical, Societal, and Legal Overview.  Late last month, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike officially ended after 148 days with the signing of a tentative new contract agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). Negotiations between the WGA, which represents some 11,500 screenwriters, and the studios began in April; the strike was called after the studios initially refused to concede several of the writers’ demands, which included standard fare like staffing minimums and bonus payments from streaming services. But one of the key points of contention was new: the use of generative AI in screenwriting.  At the start of the talks, the studios claimed that the technology was too nascent to include in their agreements, and pushed to defer the issue for three years, the duration of the contracts. But the writers refused to budge: this year, AI has been impossible to ignore. Members of WGA saw the content generated by ChatGPT and other large language models (LLMs) and feared that the tools would be used to reduce the number of working hours available to screenwriters. Members of SAG-AFTRA, the actors’ union, are in the midst of their own 90-odd day work stoppage, and hope to secure protections against the…Generative AI and Hollywood Can Co-Exist