Hollywood Ponders AI Safeguards in New Proposal Amid Writer’s Strike

Amidst a writers’ strike in Hollywood, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) proposed new protections against the growing influence of artificial intelligence (AI). AMPTP’s proposal, first introduced on August 11, outlined several concerns raised by the Writers Guild.

The August 22 copy details the largest updated compensation structure in nearly three decades.

Proposal to Address Concerns Over Hollywood Writers Using AI

Carol Lombardini, President of AMPTP, emphasized,

“Our priority is to end the strike so that valued members of the creative community can return to what they do best… We have come to the table with an offer that meets the priority concerns the writers have expressed.”

The proposal’s focus revolves around the role of generative artificial intelligence (GAI) in scriptwriting. Highlighting the importance of people in the creative process, the proposal firmly states that content generated by GAI will not be classified as ‘literary material.’

Additionally, writers could be protected if their scripts derive from or incorporate GAI-generated content. This ensures that writers’ compensation, credit, and rights remain untouched by AI influence.

The proposal also dictates that GAI-produced content won’t affect a writer’s compensation. For instance, if a company provides a writer with an AI-created screenplay to rewrite, the writer’s payment will be equivalent to drafting an original screenplay and not just a mere rewrite.

The proposal also guarantees transparency, as companies must disclose if any material presented to a writer is AI-generated.

Apart from the AI-centric clauses, the proposal presents the most significant wage increase in around 35 years, marking a 13% compounded rise over three years.

AI Playground Remains a Regulatory Struggle

These protections emerge regulatory scrutiny on AI technologies intensify globally. The Federal Trade Commission recently zoomed in on OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, probing the AI chatbot for potential privacy breaches and misleading data practices.

In a recent interview, Charlie Kaufman, a renowned writer-director, emphasized the irreplaceable human touch in creativity. He said,

“I think an AI might do what I do… If we stop creating ourselves, we’re giving up something primal. That’s essential to human experience as long as there have been humans.”

There have been tensions due to AI and creative rights in Hollywood. A recent federal court ruling denied copyright protection to an artwork solely generated by AI. The case signified a growing need to demarcate boundaries between machine-generated content and human creativity.

The Writers Guild has yet to respond to AMPTP’s proposal.