3 ms·

if they're being replaced, what good is a strike going to do?

godzillabrennus 3y ago
Make the transition slower:
jrumbut 3y ago
This is a fight over (among many other things) who realizes the benefits of AI/streaming. AI might mean that writers are freed from drudgery, their talents enhanced with powerful AI tools and now have a much more pleasant job that pays the same or perhaps more because they can produce more content or higher quality content. This is the Star Trek future. AI could also mean that professional writers are barely needed. AI does the work, studio owners reap the benefit, and writers work day jobs and fight over the occasional poorly paid editing gig. We as people will choose how AI changes the social contract. Anyone who relies on selling their labor to feed themselves and their families needs to be advocating for my first scenario, where productivity gains from AI are shared between workers, executives, and investors rather than monopolized by one or the other.
- lotsofpulp 3y ago
  >Anyone who relies on selling their labor to feed themselves and their families needs to be advocating for my first scenario, where productivity gains from AI are shared between workers, executives, and investors rather than monopolized by one or the other. I feel like the only way to effectively do this is to advocate for higher marginal income/wealth taxes that redistribute those productivity gains. Trying to fight for it on a business to business basis is easily a losing battle. For example, one is going to wonder why they should pay more for groceries if technology can help them pay less.
Shawnj2 3y ago
They’re not, they want legal protections to stop companies from replacing them For example paying someone for a day, scanning them, and using their image forever in AI content is both legal and allowed under SAG guidelines. Even if you think that what writers currently do can be done well by AI I’m pretty sure most reasonable people think that companies being able to do that is BS and you should get residuals or a really fat check if a company wants to pull that shit. It’s also about generally deteriorating conditions for actors and writers like shit pay and steaming companies not paying residuals. I actually think the AI part of the writers strike is mostly off the mark because ChatGPT is nowhere near good enough to replace a human writer and won’t be for years but general mistreatment of entertainment industry workers is totally a thing

Make the transition slower:

This is a fight over (among many other things) who realizes the benefits of AI/streaming. AI might mean that writers are freed from drudgery, their talents enhanced with powerful AI tools and now have a much more pleasant job that pays the same or perhaps more because they can produce more content or higher quality content. This is the Star Trek future. AI could also mean that professional writers are barely needed. AI does the work, studio owners reap the benefit, and writers work day jobs and fight over the occasional poorly paid editing gig. We as people will choose how AI changes the social contract. Anyone who relies on selling their labor to feed themselves and their families needs to be advocating for my first scenario, where productivity gains from AI are shared between workers, executives, and investors rather than monopolized by one or the other.

lotsofpulp 3y ago
>Anyone who relies on selling their labor to feed themselves and their families needs to be advocating for my first scenario, where productivity gains from AI are shared between workers, executives, and investors rather than monopolized by one or the other. I feel like the only way to effectively do this is to advocate for higher marginal income/wealth taxes that redistribute those productivity gains. Trying to fight for it on a business to business basis is easily a losing battle. For example, one is going to wonder why they should pay more for groceries if technology can help them pay less.

Shawnj2 3y ago

They’re not, they want legal protections to stop companies from replacing them For example paying someone for a day, scanning them, and using their image forever in AI content is both legal and allowed under SAG guidelines. Even if you think that what writers currently do can be done well by AI I’m pretty sure most reasonable people think that companies being able to do that is BS and you should get residuals or a really fat check if a company wants to pull that shit. It’s also about generally deteriorating conditions for actors and writers like shit pay and steaming companies not paying residuals. I actually think the AI part of the writers strike is mostly off the mark because ChatGPT is nowhere near good enough to replace a human writer and won’t be for years but general mistreatment of entertainment industry workers is totally a thing