Performers Worry Artificial Intelligence Will Take Their Jobs

Leaders of the SAG-AFTRA actors' union say the group's members are concerned that they will lose work because of Artificial Intelligence, or AI, tools.

The labor¹ organization started talks with Hollywood movie studios about a new contract this week.

Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is the main person speaking with movie studios on behalf of the actors. He is SAG-AFTRA's negotiator².

He said people who work in movies have their stock-in-trade, or their special qualities that make them different from another actor. He listed an actor's name, voice, personality and likeness³ when describing those qualities. Crabtree-Ireland wants to be sure actors keep making money from their special qualities.

For example, the labor organization wants to prevent movie production companies from taking an actor's image in one movie and using it to create a "digital double" for a new movie.

Crabtree-Ireland said it would not be fair to do that without paying extra.

Artificial intelligence tools have already been used to make "deepfakes" of well-known actors Tom Cruise⁴ and Keanu Reeves. Reeves called the technology "scary."

Deepfake is the term for real-looking, but untrue, video. AI can be used to make deepfakes.

AI tools have gained attention since the company OpenAI launched ChatGPT late last year.

The tools that can create sound and video are known as generative AI. They can take real video of a person and make it seem as if the person is saying words that they never said.

In Hollywood, the technology is being used to make actors look younger or to fix lip synch problems when a movie is dubbed⁵ into a different language.

Justine Bateman is a producer, writer and actor. She was on the successful television program Family Ties when she was young. Her brother is the well-known actor, Jason Bateman.

She has a computer science education and is concerned about how AI will change movies and television.

She said studios could take parts from her old show and make a new season.

Some stars give permission

While many actors are worried about AI, others can accept it.

Harrison Ford⁶ and James Earl Jones are two older actors who told moviemakers they could use AI. Ford will appear in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny⁷. He first played Indiana Jones in the 1980s. Now he is 80 years old.

In parts of the new movie, Ford appears as a young man. Instead of using a different actor, the moviemakers used AI to make Ford look young. They used images of his performance in the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark.

James Earl Jones recently spoke⁸ with Vanity⁹ Fair magazine. He said he agreed to let the producers of Star Wars use AI to recreate his voice. Jones is 92 and provides the voice for Darth Vader. He said he wants Star Wars producers to use his voice even after he dies. It is not the first time Star Wars used AI. The company Disney used the technology to put Carrie Fisher into the 2019 film The Rise of Skywalker after she died.

The actors' labor union wants to be sure anyone acting¹⁰ in a movie has a chance to say "yes" or "no" about using AI every time they accept a job.

If SAG-AFTRA cannot reach an agreement with the movie companies, it may join the Writers Guild¹¹, another labor group, in a strike. Both unions want protections in place before signing new contracts.

If the actors do not push for the protections, Bateman said, creativity and innovation¹² might disappear from movies, television and music. She said everything made in the future is going to be based on work from the past.

"I don't want to live in that world," she said.

Words in This Story

stock-in-trade –n. equipment or materials necessary for a trade or business

likeness –n. an image of a person, or thing that is known to represent an individual

lip synch –n. (entertainment industry) the matching of the sound of a movie or video with the images

dubbed –adj. to replace the sound of a film or video with speech recorded in another language

innovation –n. to use new ideas, processes or methods to create something

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 negotiator   

n.协商者，谈判者；(票据、支票等)背书人

参考例句：

• They have placed great trust in him as a negotiator. 他们完全信赖他进行谈判。
• The negotiator acted as liaison between labour and management. 谈判者充当劳资双方的联络人。

3 likeness   

n.相像，相似（之处）

参考例句：

• I think the painter has produced a very true likeness.我认为这位画家画得非常逼真。
• She treasured the painted likeness of her son.她珍藏她儿子的画像。

4 cruise   

v.巡航，航游，缓慢巡行；n.海上航游

参考例句：

• They went on a cruise to Tenerife.他们乘船去特纳利夫岛。
• She wants to cruise the canals of France in a barge.她想乘驳船游览法国的运河。

5 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

7 destiny   

n.命运，定数，天命

参考例句：

• Nobody knows his own destiny.没有人知道自己的命运。
• It was her destiny to become famous.她命里注定出名。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 vanity   

n.虚荣心，浮华，无价值的东西；adj.虚荣心的

参考例句：

• A man's vanity is actually in proportion to his ignorance.一个人的虚荣心实际上是和他的愚蠢程度成正比。
• Vanity and virtue do not go together.虚荣与美德不是共生物。

10 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

11 guild   

n.行会，同业公会，协会

参考例句：

• He used to be a member of the Writers' Guild of America.他曾是美国作家协会的一员。
• You had better incorporate the firm into your guild.你最好把这个公司并入你的行业协会。

12 innovation   

n.改革，革新，新观念，新方法，新发明

参考例句：

• There are all sorts of possibilities for technical innovation.技术革新的门道很多。
• An enterprise should encourage innovation.企业应鼓励创新。