The Writers Guild of America may strike on May 1 to oppose the use of AI in scriptwriting

According to foreign media reports, the Writers Guild of America (Writers Guild of America) held a "Writers Strike" authorization vote from April 11 to April 17. 9,218 WGA members participated in the vote (turnout rate 79%), 97.85% in favor, 2.15% against, and the strike authorization was passed.

The vote does not mean a strike is certain to happen, but it will give the Writers Guild greater leverage in labor negotiations with the American Association of Television and Picture Producers (AMPTP). The two sides began negotiations on March 20 with the goal of developing a new labor contract for the next three years.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA), the Screen Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA), and the Directors Guild (DGA) are the three largest labor unions in Hollywood. Their labor contracts with the American Association of Television and Film Producers (AMPTP) will expire this year and need to be renegotiated. (The Writers Guild's labor contract expires on May 1, and the Screen Actors Guild's labor contract expires on June 30)

The Writers Guild will be the first to start negotiations, and the results of the negotiations will affect subsequent negotiations by the Directors Guild and the Actors Guild.

The full English name of the American Association of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is “Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers”. It represents the investors of film companies and streaming companies in negotiations with these three major unions.

The Writers Guild of America is a labor union organization that represents the interests of screenwriters in the U.S. film, television, radio and new media industries. It is divided into two parts: the West (Writers Guild of America, West) and the East (Writers Guild of America, East). WGA West and WGA East usually operate independently, but they speak with one voice on major issues such as labor contracts and strikes.

The American Association of Television and Film Producers (AMPTP) represents more than 350 American film and television companies, network companies, and production companies, including: CBS, NBC Universal, Paramount, Sony, Disney, Warner Bros., Lionsgate, Amazon, Netflix, Apple, etc.

There have been six major strikes in Hollywood screenwriters' history, each time for better pay for screenwriters. The most recent one was from 2007 to 2008 and lasted 100 days, mainly for a higher share of profits from DVDs and new media.

The strike caused the American TV series "Lost", "24" and "Desperate Housewives" to have their episodes reduced or to be suspended. Many films that were in the works, such as George Miller's version of "Justice League", were also aborted, causing economic losses of about $2.1 billion to the American entertainment industry.

The writers' strike will not only affect the production of American TV series and film preparations, but even daily talk shows cannot continue without screenwriters. In order to express their support for the writers' strike, actors rarely participate in interview recordings.

According to reports, the Writers Guild has two main demands: 1. Increase the share of streaming media, and 2. Prohibit the use of AI to create (or assist in the creation of) scripts. The Actors Guild also has similar demands in negotiations, using AI to imitate human voices and performances - AI voice, deepfake face replacement, digital doubles, all of which must be regulated in the contract.