The AI Plot Twist: Hollywood's Battle for Creativity.
Will a chatbot write the next blockbuster?
The justification for scriptwriters and actors to drop their pens and cameras in the glittering streets of Hollywood is entirely justified. This is the battle for the soul of creativity.
A horror scenario torments Hollywood. But our protagonists in this grand drama are not heroes in tight suits or masks. This time, the scriptwriters and actors are the lead players. And their archenemy? A fusion of cold codes and calculating algorithms, or in other words, artificial intelligence.
Power
The current strike that holds the film industry in a stranglehold transcends the alleged greed of the screen's millionaires. Our heroes in this story are not only the heavyweights of the film industry who solidly down their work but also the invisible army of underpaid B-actors, writers, and other indispensable forces.
This battle is of great importance. Besides the fact that less content will probably be made in the coming years, the real stake is existential for the entire creative industry. Their unions are fighting against the advancing threat of AI technology, which can replicate and even replace them.
Should we then prepare for an era in which the next Jennifer Lawrence or Leonardo DiCaprio arises from a server rather than an acting school?
TikTok videos show actors sharing their fears about the growing phenomenon of scanning and endlessly reusing their likenesses for a measly one-time fee of, for example, 200 dollars.
This raises significant ethical, legal, and economic issues. It also illuminates the power dynamics in the film and entertainment industry and the value assigned to actors in the creative process.
Disruption by AI
The situation in Hollywood reflects what is happening in other sectors, such as commerce, technology companies like IBM, and the gaming industry. So what does this mean for this world's future Scorseses and Tarantinos? Does AI not put up a barricade against new talent?
AI can be great tools for creatives, but they will never be able to match human intuition and creativity. AI can help generate ideas, but it's up to people to develop and bring those ideas to life.
Legal issues also arise. The US Copyright Office states that AI-generated material does not have a copyright unless a human substantially modifies it. But who owns the result if AI learns from copyrighted works? This is unknown territory.
We are at a crucial crossroads in the history of Hollywood — and, therefore, the entertainment industry. This is no longer a traditional labor dispute but a battle against the unstoppable advance of AI. The strikes by scriptwriters and actors mark a significant turning point in this struggle.
There will be an increasing collaboration between people and AI in the future. People will use AI to simplify and improve their work, but they will always be the ones with creative control.
This is a positive development. It means that people can focus on what they are good at while AI takes over repetitive or time-consuming tasks. This will enable creatives to produce more creative and innovative content.
Proponents will argue that AI can provide significant input to creatives but can never match human intuition and creativity. In the future, however, there will be an increasingly more extensive collaboration between people and AI. People will use AI to simplify and improve their work, but they will always be the ones with creative control. And that's what it all comes down to power.
Because whoever holds the production has the final say.
Class Struggle in Hollywood
For the first time in nearly 60 years, Tinseltown is facing a strike of this magnitude. According to Succession star Brian Cox, this could last until the end of the year.
The bosses of the studios and production houses are also stirring. Disney CEO Bob Iger criticized the 'unrealistic' expectations of the strikers. The strikers' response to this? Well, quite emotional. And with reason.
The organization representing major film studios and streaming services, the AMPTP, seems unwilling to come to a fair arrangement on crucial issues such as the use of AI, despite weeks of negotiations. If we allow this trend to continue unchecked, our beloved actors and writers threaten to be replaced by emotionless machines.
Soulless robots
Fran Drescher, better known as The Nanny from our nostalgic childhood memories, is now on the front lines and the barricades. 'We are being victimised by a very greedy entity. I am shocked by the way the people that we have been in business with are treating us', she rightfully complains.
We must strongly insist on stricter regulations to protect these artists. After all, they are the ones who take us out of our daily grind and take us to new, distant worlds, trigger our imagination, and introduce us to characters that ultimately become part of our lives.
Otherwise, Hollywood threatens to transform from a dream factory into a production line of soulless robots (which it sometimes already seems due to the oversupply of some streaming services). The theater of our dreams, where human emotions and stories form the center, risks becoming a soulless playground for machines. We must not let this happen.
