The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May, and the actor’s guild SAG-AFTRA followed suit earlier this week. There are many big points of contention between the studios and creatives ranging from residuals to AI. Some big names in Hollywood have expressed their concern about AI, and Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan is the latest to address the subject. The director took part in a conversation moderated by Meet the Press’ Chuck Todd following an early screening of Oppenheimer in New York (via Variety). Due to the strike, no actors were in attendance, but Nolan was joined by Los Alamos National Laboratory director Dr. Thom Mason, physicists Dr. Carlo Rovelli and Dr. Kip Thorne, and author Kai Bird, who co-wrote the book Oppenheimer is based on.
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“The rise of companies in the last 15 years bandying words like algorithm – not knowing what they mean in any kind of meaningful, mathematical sense – these guys don’t know what an algorithm is,” Nolan shared. “People in my business talking about it, they just don’t want to take responsibility for whatever that algorithm does.”
He continued, “Applied to AI, that’s a terrifying possibility. Terrifying … Not least because, AI systems will go into defensive infrastructure ultimately. They’ll be in charge of nuclear weapons. To say that that is a separate entity from the person wielding, programming, putting that AI to use, then we’re doomed. It has to be about accountability. We have to hold people accountable for what they do with the tools that they have.”
Studios Wanted AI Background Actors:
Shortly after news broke of the strike, SAG-AFTRA held a press conference where President Fran Drescher and National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland detailed the situation. During the press conference, Crabtree-Ireland revealed the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) made a proposal to SAG-AFTRA that would have film and television extras’ likenesses be used in perpetuity.
“This ‘groundbreaking’ AI proposal that they gave us yesterday: they propose that our background performers should be able to be scanned, get paid for one day’s pay, and their company should own that scan their image, their likeness and should be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation,” Crabtree-Ireland revealed. “So if you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”
What do you think about Nolan’s thoughts on AI? Tell us in the comments.
