More than 11,500 unionized writers left their offices to join the picket lines yesterday, May 2, after weeks of contract negotiations between the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and major Hollywood studios. The walkout marks the first major strike in the entertainment industry in 15 years. But this time around, better wages and structural changes aren’t the only concerns on the table.
Since the introduction of generative AI bots, such as ChatGPT, creatives in every industry, from advertising to journalism, have expressed concerns about potential job displacement. Today, alongside other demands, WGA strikers are calling for regulation on the use of this new technology in creative projects.
In addition to pay increases and protections for writers working on streaming versus aired series, the guild specifically demands that “AI cannot write or rewrite literary material; cannot be used as source material; and material covered by the MBA cannot be used to train the AI,” according to one document published by the group Monday.
In response, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) – the trade association representing top studios including Fox, Netflix, NBC, Amazon, Apple and Disney – rejected the WGA’s proposal. Rather than agree to stay away from AI, the AMPTP proposed “annual meetings to discuss technological advancements,” an unclear counter that left many strikers unsatisfied.
Today, May 3, dozens of protesters gathered outside Netflix’s Manhattan headquarters, one on one series of stakes scheduled in the coming weeks in New York and Los Angeles. Among them was Lowell Peterson, executive director of the WGA East.
“The concern is not that the AI will create really good scripts, but that it will take away a lot of work. Not just the creative control, but the actual employment of the writers,” Peterson said. Hyperallergic. Streamers typically earn less than their TV colleagues and work in small groups to tight deadlines.
Outside the Netflix offices, striking WGA and SAG-AFTRA allies marched down Broadway, disrupting usual downtown traffic. On the sidewalk, they chanted in unison, rang cowbells and held up signs with catchy phrases like “Miss Your Show? Let them know!” and “Do the writing thing!” to express their frustration. Passing drivers showed their support with loud horns, while other passers-by cheered and cheered the protesters.
“THE [AMPTP’s] The answer was not to mention AI repeatedly when we talked about it. And then at the very end when we insisted that AI was something to talk about, they told us they didn’t want to talk now because they didn’t want to cut something they could benefit in the future,” said Greg Iwinski, comedy writer and WGA-East board member. AMPTP did not respond to Hyperallergicimmediate request for comments.
Peterson explained that the WGA attempted to work with the AMPTP, proposing regulations that were not “anti-technology”, but rather protective of writers’ credits and compensation. “It is deeply disappointing that the AMPTP has declined to engage with us in any meaningful way,” Peterson said.
“The wording meant nothing,” Peterson continued, responding to AMPTP’s counter-proposal. “Maybe the AI generated that.”
The first protest in New York took place yesterday, when around 200 protesters gathered around Peacock’s headquarters at a NewFronts advertiser presentation on Fifth Avenue, Variety reported. A message written on a picket board during that protest stuck and began circulating online. He said, “Pay your writers or we’ll mess up Succession.”
