“Machines for plagiarism”: Hollywood writers demand to limit the role of AI in the writing of movie scripts
The Writers Guild of America wants to limit the use of artificial intelligence in screenwriting for film and television. At the same time, they are ready to discuss the use of new technologies in work once a year. This was reported by Reuters.
The AI controversy is one of the issues that has prompted Hollywood screenwriters to strike. At the same time, a representative of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, who is negotiating on behalf of the studios, did not comment on the situation.
Instead, a member of the guild’s negotiating committee, screenwriter John August talked about fears about artificial intelligence.
“We don’t want our material feeding them, and we also don’t want to be fixing their sloppy first drafts,” he emphasized.
In Hollywood, AI helps erase wrinkles from an aging actor’s face, draw animated shorts with OpenAI’s Dall-E, and more. Some writers also experiment with screenwriting.
However, the authors are afraid that due to the use of AI, they will be underestimated or even pushed into the background. Therefore, the union proposes that material created with the help of artificial intelligence should not be considered “literary material” or “source material” – terms that are already defined in contracts. This means that if the head of the studio gives the screenwriter an AI-generated work for revision, the writer will not receive a lower rewrite rate.
The union also argues that existing scenarios should not be used to train AI, which would open the door to intellectual property theft. According to the guild’s chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, some members of the organization refer to the AI as “plagiarism machines.”
We remind you that the strike of the Writers Guild of America may have a negative impact on film production of streaming services, in particular Apple TV+. Hollywood screenwriters officially went on strike after the guild failed to reach a new deal with the studios by May 1 and the previous contract expired.