Internet Reacts to Hollywood's Background Actor AI Proposal
The much-discussed Black Mirror episode "Joan Is Awful" is looking eerily plausible at the moment.
SAG-AFTRA (Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) declared a strike on Thursday, July 13, after contract negotiations with the AMPTP (Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) failed to result in a fair contract by the established deadline. One of the issues that SAG-AFTRA is against, that the AMPTP had reportedly previously proposed, is using AI in the likeness of extras.
As mentioned by SAG-AFTRA National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland during a press conference held on the day of the strike's announcement, the AMPTP "propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day's pay, and their company should own that scan of their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation."
Crabtree-Ireland warned, "So if you think that's a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again."
When the news was shared on Reddit's r/entertainment thread, many shared their thoughts on the preposterous proposal.
"Literally a Black Mirror episode. It's like producers saw that episode and thought we should do this," pointed out a Redditor, in reference to the aforementioned episode from the Netflix show's sixth season.
Another commenter noted that this would affect actors' chances of finding work, as many start off as background actors or in minor roles before starring in a project.
"I just don't understand how this doesn't completely cut off more potential chances for people to get an acting job. Like I get it from a gross cost cutting measure for producers to save more money, but that's terrible. You need a market for humans to grow and become better at their creative craft," they wrote.
Someone who claims to work in the industry as part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) gave some in-depth insight into how using extras' likenesses with AI would play out—and it's pretty bleak.
"The proposal is they pay these people $200 to come in for 1 day and scan them and the STUDIO OWNS that person’s likeness to do whatever they want for forever," they wrote.
They continued, "Background actors get paid $200 every day they are called to work a day on set. So there's also that for the one movie or TV show they would get scanned, the studios don’t have to pay them for however many days that person comes back as background. Some big movies and TV show runs that could be 50-80 days out of a 100 day shoot, for example."
The anonymous industry insider added, "People make a full living doing background work. So the audacity of this is mind blowing. They're telling these people that they have no rights over how their faces are used, that they themselves are worth ONE day's pay, no more, and that they no longer have a career. It's not like being laid off or fired where 'find another job' is the solution. When a production ends, EVERYONE working on it is laid off and has to find another job. These people would get scanned by each AMPTP studio and they're done, done."
A commenter also pointed out that Disney+ used CGI extras that "were creepy and easy to spot. Any production that uses only AI extras will be unwatchable to me lol."
During the same press conference that Crabtree-Ireland spoke about the AI issue, SAG-AFTRA union president and The Nanny star Fran Drescher said, “This is a very seminal hour for us. I went in in earnest thinking that we would be able to avert a strike. The gravity of this move is not lost on me or our negotiating committee or our board members…it's a very serious things that impacts thousands if not millions of people all across this country and around the world."