The fear of AI originates from the idea that artificial intelligence would gain use and popularity to the point of it outweighing the need for real actors, and real people. While other countries like China and the EU have come forward with propositions and laws regarding this issue, the US has been severely behind in its development of protections for actors. In Oct. 2022, Biden's administration put out the "Blueprint For An AI Bill of Rights". On the White House website, Biden's blueprint points out AI being misused in ways that "threaten the rights of the American public." Taking this quote, it goes on to point out how not only are our rights threatened, but opportunities are limited. Noting the use of the word "opportunities", actors are struggling with the same thing in the field of AI being involved in the creative process. But, regardless of these plans that came out over a year ago, SAG-AFTRA is barely reaching deals for actors just this November. The SAG-AFTRA AI letter is a heap of information conveying a union's distress and concerns with their work, trying their best to work towards laws that protect actors. The issue is still in deep need of advancing, but for now, the only things taking up legal space are WGA and SAG-AFTRA contracts protecting against misuse with AI but also allowing AI assistance to be used in the writing and creation processes.
One of the most specific concerns in the SAG-AFTRA strike is the use of AI. In this case, the use of technology to mimic an actor's face, body, voice, etc. To actors in the strike, this causes concern in terms of job opportunities. There have been dozens of creative works projecting the "what-if" factor of artificial intelligence seemingly taking over the world. It may not be as Terminator -esque as an issue of robots with laser guns, but it does threaten the actors who put in the work to bring entertainment to us every day. " ... it's unlikely that the writers who penned those sci-fi scripts, or the actors giving soul to a machine, ever thought that AI might represent a serious threat to their livelihoods," (Lawler, 2023). The issue from the perspective of law lies within the actors' likeness. Their features, uniqueness, and talent, are all at threat when AI can generate and animate these individuals and take from them what they gave the industry. ...
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