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Studios’ Proposed AI Performance Rules Are Dystopian As Hell, Actors Say

“They proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan,” one SAG union negotiator said.

Just as SAG-AFTRA members announced they were set to go on strike Thursday, they revealed a disturbing new artificial intelligence proposal from Hollywood studios that could alter the industry forever. Responding to the imminent labor action, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) called the proposal “groundbreaking”—but actors say it’s anything but. “They proposed that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get one day’s pay, and their companies should own that scan, their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity on any project they want, with no consent and no compensation,” said Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator, according to The Verge. “So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.” Regulating the use of AI in films and TV continues to be a controversial issue in the negotiations between actors and studios—and it’s a big reason for the ongoing WGA writers strike, too.