Hollywood studios intend to permanently replace actors with AI replicas for free

At a press conference held recently, a group of Hollywood actors confirmed that they would join the ongoing American screenwriters' strike. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the chief negotiator of the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), revealed a proposal from Hollywood film companies that sounds like a plot that would only appear in the TV series "Black Mirror": using AI to copy all actors and permanently replace real people without compensation.

In a statement about the strike, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) said the proposal includes "a groundbreaking AI proposal to protect the digital likenesses of SAG-AFTRA member actors."

Asked about the proposal at a press conference, Crabtree-Ireland said: "This 'groundbreaking' AI proposal they gave us yesterday, they propose that our backstage performers should be able to be scanned, get a day's pay, and their companies should own the scans, their photos and their likenesses, and be able to use them in any project they want, forever, without consent and without compensation. So if you think this is a 'groundbreaking proposal', I suggest you think again."

The use of generative AI has been one of the main issues in the negotiations between the two parties and is also one of the main reasons for the Writers Guild strike. Fran Drescher, president of the Screen Actors Guild, said in her opening remarks at the press conference: "If we don't stand up now, we will all be in trouble. We will all be in danger of being replaced by machines."

The SAG-AFTRA strike has begun. Many Hollywood actors have joined the march, including Marvel Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo, John Leguizamo from "John Wick: Chapter 11," and many other familiar faces. Many big-name movie stars have also expressed their support for the strike, including Margot Robbie and Matt Damon from the upcoming "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer."

This is reportedly the first time since 1960 that the Hollywood Writers Guild and the Actors Guild have gone on strike simultaneously.