In a world where movies and television can be written by artificial intelligence, and actors can be replaced by deepfake technology, the actors and writers of the industry are facing a troubling future. If AI can make drafts and fix scripts, eventually the need for a human writer could become obsolete. And if a human’s voice and likeness can be fully generated by a computer (such as Luke Skywalker in the series The Book of Boba Fett), then the need for paid actors would diminish as well. I honestly think we should just stick to the movie magic.
Although the advancing technology is admittedly impressive, these writers and actors that are being replaced are real people living their lives and doing their jobs. If too much AI is used, they could lose their jobs, go broke, or worse. That’s their livelihood, and no computer can replace them. This is why on May 2nd, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began striking and ceased all work to fight back against the growing use of artificial scripts and rewrites. They were then joined by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on July 14th, effectively shutting down most if not all film and television productions.
They are justifyingly fighting against the use of AI so that they can keep their jobs and keep the authenticity of human work. Along with that, there are a lot of writers not being paid a fair wage, with their efforts being given less than deserved and companies not realizing how integral writers are to the industry. Furthermore, smaller actors and background extras are being neglected and underpaid, with companies seriously considering using CGI background characters, which would effectively terminate the need for extras, causing millions to lose employment.
With the strikes ongoing, no new scripts are being written and no actors are showing up to sets, so any project begging to be filmed has to be postponed and many movies slated for release in the upcoming years are being delayed. The strikes will continue until writers and actors are able to negotiate with film companies (such as Disney and Warner Brothers), and if they can’t come to an agreement the strikes will continue for the foreseeable future.
The entire film and television industry is on pause right now, and the way I see it, big companies need to wise up and cave to what the writers and actors need, otherwise nothing new will come out and they’ll lose millions of dollars. Writers and actors are large contributing factors in what makes movies and TV what they are and what makes them great. They deserve to be treated with respect, dignity, and equality.
