Key Takeaways: Justine Bateman is deeply disappointed with the tentative agreement in place between SAG-AFTRA and the major studios, which ended the strike. The filmmaker, who also serves as the union’s AI advisor, has been fighting against integrating generative AI into the industry all year. As she told Velshi on Friday’s show, Bateman believes that studio executives “are choosing to no longer be in the film and series business.” Will they use AI to check? There’s no AI in any of the films? — Gary (@GaryOdelboy) July 23, 2024 When Velshi asked what media consumers can do to support Bateman and creators like her who don’t plan to incorporate generative AI into their work, Bateman responded that it “depends on what you want.” How is she going to regulate this? Honor system?? This is a gimmick. — Andrea ⚡️Berry | Theta Network (@w3Andrea) July 23, 2024 She emphasized that this track includes generative AI. Members of SAG-AFTRA will begin voting on whether to ratify the agreement this Tuesday, with voting concluding the first week of December. this AI crap is only going to bring about an amazing resurgence of indie films like the 90s — Dizzle Fo Shizzle (@DanGoodson11) July 23, 2024 She posted this in November: I will be taking the actual deal document (and not the “summary” SAG is planning to release) and explaining the violating #AI permissions the AMPTP will have over you. I’m very disappointed that the SAG leadership and committee did not take my guidance on the #AI issues. 1/ — Justine Bateman (@JustineBateman) November 11, 2023 Bateman added, “Why? Because it’s the right thing to do, because it’s unconscionable what the CEOs are doing, and because it would be immoral of me to not tell you just how the actors and crew, in particular, are going to be abused.” Bateman concluded, “I’ve said from the beginning that the use of generative #AI will collapse the structure of this business. I want the actors and crew to have enough self-respect to turn over a table and flip the CEOs off as it happens. They’re going to leave you with nothing left to lose.” This discussion sheds light on the broader implications of AI integration in creative industries and the importance of safeguarding human roles in an increasingly automated world. For more news and insights, visit AI News on our website.
Instead, she added, they are pushing out positions for humans who make up casts and crews and letting AI do the work instead.
She warned that soon, customized films based on individual viewing histories will be common, produced rapidly and without the need for copyright, diminishing the value of human-created content.
Early Saturday, Bateman explained on X (formerly Twitter) that she intends to go over the actual deal document with her followers.
Bateman Slams SAG-AFTRA AI Deal: ‘Actors Should Only Approve If They Don’t Want to Work Anymore’!
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Digital marketing enthusiast by day, nature wanderer by dusk. Dave Andre blends two decades of AI and SaaS expertise into impactful strategies for SMEs. His weekends? Lost in books on tech trends and rejuvenating on scenic trails.Dave Andre
Digital marketing enthusiast by day, nature wanderer by dusk. Dave Andre blends two decades of AI and SaaS expertise into impactful strategies for SMEs. His weekends? Lost in books on tech trends and rejuvenating on scenic trails.
While speaking with MSNBC’s AliVelshi, she explained that members of the union should approve the deal after voting begins Tuesday only “if they don’t want to work anymore.” Bateman added, “If they want to be replaced by synthetic objects that are made by generative AI, why not?”
Bateman criticized the notion that studio executives consider themselves as tech barons, arguing, “But this, doing projects that don’t involve humans is not being… you’re not in the film business anymore. They don’t know what it’s like to make a film.”
Bateman used a stark metaphor to describe the divide in the industry: “The train track is split. One train track is going, ‘OK, we’re going to participate in this sort of negotiation with the cannibals, and we’re going to talk about just how you’re going to be cutting my foot off, and are you going to grill it or boil it, and what kind of sauce are you going to put on it?”
In contrast, Bateman declared, “I’m on a different track, which, I’m going to be making human things for human audiences with human crews and casts and so forth. And we’ll see what happens.”
She continued her thread, “I have spent time over the past eight months writing op-eds, doing press interviews, and posting on social media to warn my fellow entertainment workers about how the studios/streamers mean to discard you with generative #AI.”
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Digital marketing enthusiast by day, nature wanderer by dusk. Dave Andre blends two decades of AI and SaaS expertise into impactful strategies for SMEs. His weekends? Lost in books on tech trends and rejuvenating on scenic trails.
