The strike has brought attention to the often overlooked extras in Hollywood, who are seen as the canary in the coal mine for technological shifts in the industry. The use of AI and digital doubles is already happening in commercials and movies, and many background actors saw this day coming. There is concern that as the technology advances, studios will be able to create copies of actors that are just different enough to avoid having to credit them at all.
Key takeaways:
- Hollywood actors, members of the SAG-AFTRA union, have announced their intentions to strike over concerns about studios' use of digital doubles and lack of compensation for their use.
- The studios have proposed that background performers should be scanned and paid for one day’s pay, and the 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.
- Studios deny wanting to use background actors’ likenesses in perpetuity without consent or compensation, stating that any other use beyond the motion picture for which the actor is employed requires the actor's consent and bargaining for the use, subject to a minimum payment.
- Background actors are concerned about the potential for AI to replace their roles, and some are exploring ways to monetize their digital doubles. However, there are concerns that as AI technology advances, studios may be able to create digital doubles that are just different enough from the original actor that they don't have to credit or compensate them at all.