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I think you misunderstand. As I understand it, the WGA is very open to _writers_ using AI to help them in their work. The risk that the WGA is protecting their

I think you misunderstand. As I understand it, the WGA is very open to _writers_ using AI to help them in their work. The risk that the WGA is protecting their members against here is specifically a situation where a _studio_ uses an AI system to screw a writer out of certain rights with regards to a movie. There is a big difference in terms of pay and credits when a writer adapts source material (such as a book) compared to when they write a screenplay from scratch. The fear here is that the studio could circumvent the purpose of this difference by writing material using AI, and then hiring a writer to "adapt" this material as a screenplay. Or the studios could write a full AI-generated screenplay and hire a writer to "fix" it. In my opinion this is a relevant worry, and if I was a writer I would be happy that the WGA took this stance. More info here: https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/writers-guild-artificial-intelligence-proposal-1235560927/ https://variety.com/2023/biz/news/writers-guild-artificial-i... "Instead, the proposal would allow a writer to use ChatGPT to help write a script without having to share writing credit or divide residuals."

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faeriechangling 3y ago
>As I understand it, the WGA is very open to _writers_ using AI to help them in their work I can't actually find a direct quotation of them actually saying they're open to this. Whereas I can find a direct quote of them saying "AI can’t be used as source material, to create MBA-covered writing or rewrite MBA-covered work, and AI-generated text cannot be considered in determining writing credits." I also fail to see how a random studio executive who writes up a draft using an AI and hands it off to a professional writer to cleanup, isn't themselves a writer. It's also already possible to just hire some random person off the street, have them draft up a screenplay based on what an executive says, have them give up their copyright, and send it off to a writer for "Adaption". The only truly novel thing about AI is that it's cheaper and it's possible to produce creative works which are not copyrightable in the first place using AI, and if the contractual implications of this are the specific concern, the WGA should be far more narrow with their proclamations. Also what they say on twitter: "[AIs] output is not eligible for copyright protection, nor can an AI software program sign a certificate of authorship." Is literally wrong." Is not literally true, it's possible to produce both uncopyrightable or copyrightable work with an AI: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/16/2023-05321/copyright-registration-guidance-works-containing-material-generated-by-artificial-intelligence https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/16/2023-05...
- patapong 3y ago
  > It's also already possible to just hire some random person off the street, have them draft up a screenplay based on what an executive says, have them give up their copyright, and send it off to a writer for "Adaption". I don't think this is true. Any studio that has signed on to the WGA collective bargaining agreement can only hire WGA members to write. I am sure studios would love to do that otherwise and pay the writer less. Here the WGA has identified a new potential way of this occurring and is protecting against it. https://www.romanolaw.com/2022/11/11/what-to-know-when-hiring-a-wga-writer/ https://www.romanolaw.com/2022/11/11/what-to-know-when-hirin...

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faeriechangling 3y ago

>As I understand it, the WGA is very open to _writers_ using AI to help them in their work I can't actually find a direct quotation of them actually saying they're open to this. Whereas I can find a direct quote of them saying "AI can’t be used as source material, to create MBA-covered writing or rewrite MBA-covered work, and AI-generated text cannot be considered in determining writing credits." I also fail to see how a random studio executive who writes up a draft using an AI and hands it off to a professional writer to cleanup, isn't themselves a writer. It's also already possible to just hire some random person off the street, have them draft up a screenplay based on what an executive says, have them give up their copyright, and send it off to a writer for "Adaption". The only truly novel thing about AI is that it's cheaper and it's possible to produce creative works which are not copyrightable in the first place using AI, and if the contractual implications of this are the specific concern, the WGA should be far more narrow with their proclamations. Also what they say on twitter: "[AIs] output is not eligible for copyright protection, nor can an AI software program sign a certificate of authorship." Is literally wrong." Is not literally true, it's possible to produce both uncopyrightable or copyrightable work with an AI: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/16/2023-05321/copyright-registration-guidance-works-containing-material-generated-by-artificial-intelligence https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/16/2023-05...

patapong 3y ago
> It's also already possible to just hire some random person off the street, have them draft up a screenplay based on what an executive says, have them give up their copyright, and send it off to a writer for "Adaption". I don't think this is true. Any studio that has signed on to the WGA collective bargaining agreement can only hire WGA members to write. I am sure studios would love to do that otherwise and pay the writer less. Here the WGA has identified a new potential way of this occurring and is protecting against it. https://www.romanolaw.com/2022/11/11/what-to-know-when-hiring-a-wga-writer/ https://www.romanolaw.com/2022/11/11/what-to-know-when-hirin...