Are we experiencing an AI boom? In a way, yes. Perhaps now more than ever, we see this type of technology being implemented in more areas of modern life, and the entertainment industry is not exempt. For this reason, it has been requested to regulate artificial intelligence in Hollywood series and films.
In the aftermath of the recent Hollywood writers’ strike, this proposition gained strength as one of the essential requests of the movement. And at the same time, several recognized figures have spoken in favor.
Is there fear in Hollywood for artificial intelligence?
Elizabeth Banks, the director of Cocaine Bear and who will star next Dreamquil (a movie that will talk precisely about the implications of AI), is the most recent addition to the list of celebrities who They ask to regulate artificial intelligence in Hollywood series and movies.
“AI will be a tool. No doubt about it. It’s coming fast and furiously. But I wish it was a tool used by writers and not by studios to replace writers…“Banks said in a recent interview with Deadline.
“As artists in Hollywood, we export and create culture. And I think we’ve made incredible strides… The idea that we would essentially use AI to cRearing that culture based on all the biases of previous cultures, because that’s what the AI will learn from, I find that scary.”added Elizabeth Banks in that talk.
It is a striking point seen from the creative point of view. Can technology like that replace human creativity? Will the AI learn in such an advanced way to replicate the ingenuity of people when it comes to writing? These are complicated issues, but they are already making noise in the sphere of Hollywood writers.
And more if we take into account the accelerated development of said technology, flooding the news every day with some new advance. Or with tech giants like Google introducing AI into their ecosystems. But let’s go deeper into the entertainment industry and find out why They ask to regulate artificial intelligence in Hollywood series and movies.
The WGA petition to regulate artificial intelligence in Hollywood series and movies
On May 2, the writers’ strike began in Hollywood. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) failed to negotiate their so-called renewal agreement.
This agreement essentially seeks to achieve a fair payment for the ‘residuals’, that is, the money that writers and screenwriters receive when a show or movie they worked on is broadcast on either network television and above all, streaming services (here we tell you more about the strike).
And there, among the list of requests/demands, there is a section where the issue of regulation of artificial intelligence is touched on in Hollywood series and movies. What’s that wave about? Here we detail a little about it.
In the document of the Writers Guild of America Issued on May 1, this proposition that the WGA made to the Producers Alliance is read: “Regulate the use of artificial intelligence in projects supported by the Minimum Basic Agreement.
“AI cannot write literary material, cannot be used as source material and material supported by the Minimum Basic Agreement may not be used to train artificial intelligence“says the proposal of the scriptwriters on strike.
To keep you on the radar, the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) is the initiative that “covers benefits, rights, and protections for most of the work done by WGA writers and screenwriters,” as he says union official website.
In the same document, the Union mentions that the Producers Alliance rejected the proposal. So, What do writers look for in terms of artificial intelligence in Hollywood movies and series?
Artificial intelligence must be a tool; not a substitute
Does this mean that the writers want the use of AI to stop? Not at all. Although the main thing is that the work of writers is revalued, this does not imply that this type of technology is not available in creative aspects.
The regulation of artificial intelligence in Hollywood series and films focuses, in any case, on in using technology as a resource or a tool, not a substitute for the creative behind the pen.
“Writers want to be able to use this technology as part of their creative process, without changing the way credits are determined, which is complicated given that AI material cannot be copyrighted”said the Writers Union in a statement via NBC News.
The thing is, in the case of the AI-powered ChatGPT, it has been shown that this chatbot can be subjected to a learning process to imitate the creative qualities (style, content, structure etc) of the work of some authors.
NBC News itself explains in its aforementioned article that they asked ChatGPT play a script The White Lotus the HBO that while it wasn’t quite ‘clean’, it was able to deliver a six-paragraph draft putting season one characters into new situations, scenes, and more.
This shows that the regulation of artificial intelligence in Hollywood series and movies is a reform that scriptwriters may see in the future. as we said, AI continues to be introduced more and more in different fields, and just as it excites some, it terrifies others.
