Many Hollywood actors are now on strike to protest studios taking their likeness and using AI to produce more content, all without paying them a dollar.
Some entertainment firms like Disney have refused to discuss in detail the nature of their investments in AI, but the job postings and financial disclosures reviewed by The Intercept revealed how some of these companies embrace the technology.
The Hollywood actors have gone on strike for the first time since 1960 to demand for "better wages and regulations" on the use of AI by studios. They joined Hollywood writers who have been on strike since May 7. (Related: EXTREME SCENARIOS: Artificial intelligence could revolutionize tech sector forever – or wipe out the human race.)
After the actors' strike was authorized, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) introduced a groundbreaking AI proposal that protects actors' digital likenesses for Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) members.
AMPTP is the trade association representing the TV and film companies negotiating with the actors' and writers' unions.
The offer prompted comparisons to a recent episode of "Black Mirror," a dystopian sci-fi TV series. In the referenced episode, actress Salma Hayek was depicted in "a Kafkaesque struggle with a studio that was using her scanned digital likeness against her will."
Actors on strike are asking for their rights to be protected against continued reports of companies using AI to manipulate their scanned likeness but without offering adequate compensation for the actors.
According to Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, chief negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, companies have proposed that their background performers should be able to be scanned and get paid for only one day's pay. After paying the performers, companies were also unfairly demanding that they should "own that scan, their image, their likeness, and to be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation."
Aside from actors, entertainment writers are also facing a future where their work could eventually be replaced by AI programs. For example, ChatGPT can generate text in response to queries.
Writers represented by the Writers Guild of America have been on strike to demand several rights, such as labor safeguards against AI.
John August, a screenwriter for films like "Charlie's Angels," said the WGA wants to make sure that AI programs like ChatGPT "can't be credited with writing a screenplay."
This means the guild wants to make sure that "literary material" or what the MBA calls creative output like outlines, screenplays, teleplays, treatments and other projects people write, can't be generated by an AI.
For example, if a movie made by a studio that has an agreement with the WGA has a writing credit, which includes more than 350 of America’s major studios and production companies, the writer must be an actual person.
Per the SAG-AFTRA contract, the daily rate for background actors can be around $200.
However, a job posting from the company Realeyes offers a higher rate, specifically, $300 for two hours of work "expressing different emotions" and "improvising brief scenes" to "train an AI database to better express human emotions."
Realeyes develops technology to measure user attention and reactions to video content. While the posting doesn't explicitly work with streaming companies, one video on their website prominently features the logos for two streaming giants: Netflix and Hulu.
The posting seems designed to attract striking workers, with phrasing that emphasizes how the gig is for "research" purposes, meaning it doesn't "qualify as struck work."
The Realeyes ad also said that the project wasn't meant to replace actors, but instead "requires their expertise." The summary also mentioned several times that the job is designed to train AI to create "expressive avatars" to avoid strike restrictions.
But some experts wonder if the boundary between research and commercial work is clear.
Ben Zhao, professor of computer science at the University of Chicago, warned that it's very likely that the use of Realeyes' "research," when it gets commercialized, will be to build digital actors that will replace human actors.
Zhao added that the "research" side of the ad is probably a red herring and that industry research could eventually go into commercial products.
Netflix, Disney list job openings for AI-related positions amid strikes
If you're wondering where Netflix stands on the issue of AI content in Hollywood, the streaming giant has recently posted an ad for a $900,000-a-year AI product manager job.
This makes it clear that the AI goes beyond the algorithms that will allegedly determine what shows are recommended to users.
The listing included AI's uses for content creation, claiming that it is "powering innovation in all areas of the business," such as by helping companies like Netflix to create "great content."
Netflix's AI product manager posting also refers to a growing effort by the business to embrace AI, with references to Netflix's "Machine Learning Platform" involving AI specialists.
Netflix is already using AI technology. On July 6, the streaming service launched a new Spanish reality dating series called "Deep Fake Love" where scans of contestants' faces and bodies are used to create AI-generated "deepfake" simulations of themselves.
Like Netflix, Disney has listed job openings for AI-related positions. One Disney ad says the company is looking for a senior AI engineer to "drive innovation across our cinematic pipelines and theatrical experiences."
The posting also listed some big Disney studios where AI is already playing a role, such as Marvel, Pixar and Walt Disney Animation.
Zhao explained that while it seems clear that the entertainment industry is willing to make massive investments in generative AI, the industry also seems willing to pay for access to their intellectual property so AI models can be trained to replace all human creatives like actors, writers and journalists for a smaller fraction of human wages.
Companies use older, more familiar AI models to provide things like algorithmic recommendations or genre tags.
Generative AI refers to the type of AI that can produce text, images and video from input data, an important component of original content creation that can also be used for other purposes, such as advertising.
For some actors, their struggle is not against the sci-fi dystopia of AI itself, but for fair working conditions in their industry and control over their own likeness.
Watch the video below as Health Ranger Mike Adams talks about AI robots built by leftists who want to annihilate the human race.
This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.
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over 1 year ago
OH NOOOOOO!!! What would we do without actors and all the garbage they're putting out??? 🤣
over 1 year ago
Daniel 11:31 -- "Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the Abomination of Desolation."
The Greek high god Zeus was the god of the original "Abomination of Desolation" set up on December 16, 167 B.C. by Antiochus IV "Epiphanes," the Syrian Seleucid ruler who tried to ruin Israel.
1st Maccabees 1:54 (KJV) -- "Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the Abomination of Desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side..."
2nd Maccabees 6:2 (KJV) -- "And to pollute also the temple in Jerusalem, and to call it the temple of Jupiter [Zeus] Olympius; and that in Garizim, of Jupiter [Zeus] the Defender of Strangers, as they did desire that dwelt in the place."
A similar event occurred during the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula (A.D. 37-41). The Greek god Zeus was the equivalent of the Roman god Jupiter. Caligula tried to have an enormous statue of himself in the guise of Jupiter installed in the Temple at Jerusalem for worship, but he was assassinated before it could be accomplished.
These events were "types," or "foreshadowings," of the future Abomination of Desolation that will be set up for the Antichrist. Matthew 24:15 -- "Therefore when you see the Abomination of Desolation which was spoken of through Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)..."
Revelation 13:14-15: "And he (the False Prophet) deceives those who dwell on the earth because of the signs which it was given him to perform in the presence of the Beast (the Antichrist), telling those who dwell on the earth to make an image to the Beast who had the wound of the sword and has come to life. And it was given to him to give breath to the image of the Beast, so that the image of the Beast would even speak and cause as many as do not worship the image of the Beast to be killed."
This may be some form of AI, or AGI. "Artificial General Intelligence is considered by some to be the end goal of artificial intelligence development. Instead of having an AI that can perform specific tasks, an AGI would be able to perform any task you set it, and with enough time and computational power, do it well."
Be ready for what is coming! Read the Bible by beginning with the Gospel, According to John. The verbatim quote of Jesus Christ in John 6:47 is "Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on Me hath everlasting life." In the Bible, to believe in means to rely on. And from the context of John 6:47 I paraphrase the meaning of the promise of Jesus: "Very truly! I say to you, the person who relies on Me alone, putting himself or herself into My hands (apart from also relying on his or her good deeds), HAS (right now) nonforfeitable, EVER-lasting, unending life."
Once you have begun to follow Jesus by relying on Him alone for His free gift of everlasting life which cannot be lost, THEN do good deeds of obedience to the teachings of Lord Jesus, but only out of gratitude, to glorify Him. Those who are faithful in discipleship will reign with Christ in His eternal kingdom.
over 1 year ago
Small Correction Mike.. First Terminator Movie Came out in 1984. Second one was in 1991 😊👍
over 1 year ago
I agree with the writers and actors pushing back here. AI infiltration takes us one step closer to living in The Matrix.