Avengers: Endgame director Joe Russo believes the fear of artificial intelligence and how it could adversely impact the television and film industries is justified.
“I think everyone should be scared of AI,” Russo told Variety. The filmmaker also urged industry professionals to treat such technology as a “tool servicing us rather than us servicing the tool.” Russo used filmmaker James Cameron as an example, adding, “When the creatives are engaged and the creatives are spearheading the use of technology — look at James Cameron’s entire career — that technology ends up in service of artists rather than vice versa.” He also warned that “if corporations drive the adoption of that technology, it might be a different story.”
The use of AI is one of the central issues behind the ongoing Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike, which began on May 2 following failed contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). The rise of AI software has threatened the future of screenwriting in the eyes of many industry professionals, who fear AI will limit the number of jobs available for working writers. In its negotiations with AMPTP, the WGA has argued that AI-generated content cannot be considered “literary material” or “source material.”
The WGA Calls for Studios to Regulate AI
The WGA said the studios have “stonewall[ed]” its proposals to regulate AI and have failed to offer a satisfying compromise to many of the organization’s other demands. “[We] began this process intent on making a fair deal, but the studios’ responses have been wholly insufficient given the existential crisis writers are facing,” the WGA said in a recent statement.
Many have since voiced their support of the WGA, including US President Joe Biden, who has called for the studios to give writers the “fair deal they deserve as soon as possible.” President Biden added, “This is an iconic, meaningful American industry. And we need the writers and all the workers and everyone involved to tell the stories of our nation and the stories of all of us.”
The WGA strike is already having a significant impact on the entertainment industry, delaying several high-profile projects in various stages of development. Marvel Studios’ Blade recently became the first tentpole film to be delayed. This news came just days after it was reported that Marvel had hired True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto to rewrite the script. On the small screen, projects like Stranger Things, Yellowjackets, and Cobra Kai have been put on hiatus until the strike is resolved. The last writers’ strike lasted three months between November 2007 and February 2008.
Source: Variety
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