The Writers' Guild of America (WGA) has reached an agreement with major Hollywood production studios to regulate the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the industry. The proposed agreement details a type of artificial intelligence called generative AI, which analyzes data to identify patterns and then uses those patterns to generate content such as text. The fear that studios may employ AI to undercut pay by taking away writing assignments and credit is what prompted the parties to reach this agreement.
In addition to not being considered source material, AI-generated content is prohibited from being used in the agreement. The first time a human being has any kind of creative interaction with the idea is when credit for the story's inception can begin to be given. The company cannot mandate that a writer utilize AI software, but the writer is free to do so if they like and as long as they comply with the organization's regulations.
If any of the provided resources were made by AI or included content made by AI, the company must inform the writer. Because of this, screenwriters have a great deal of control over their work. Studio guidelines must be followed if writers decide to use GAI. The WGA may take the position that using authors' works to train AI violates the terms of the agreement or other applicable law.
The agreement also covers whether or not studios can use writers' previously published works for the purpose of training GAI systems. This may happen in the near future as more and more GAI technologies emerge that can train on data available online. But since the contract protected the writers from the more immediate threat, the WGA may have decided not to prioritize future downstream opportunities and threats to writers' rights.
In order to protect authors' credits and pay, the WGA has negotiated a deal with film companies. The contract also addresses a potential source of tension between writers and studios: the grey area of law regarding the usage of General Analytics Intelligence (GAI). The SAG-AFTRA actors' strike, which is still ongoing in Hollywood, centers on the theft of actors' likenesses and voices. The WGA agreement offers substantial protection for screenwriters in the face of automation, but there is no explicit legal bar against a studio utilizing AI to compose a screenplay. Collective bargaining may be an effective way for workers to advance their interests when automation threatens their livelihoods, as demonstrated by the resolution of the WGA strike, which undermines the veil of inevitability surrounding industrial automation. Undermining the air of inevitability that surrounds concerns of workplace automation, the WGA agreement could serve as a precedent for future labor agreements involving GAI and automation.
