I’d like to start by saying we are all aware of how the strike is going. At first, we thought things would be back in full swing by fall, but it looks like the work halt has been stretched to February. Isaac gave his two cents on the matter a while back, and we all know how I’ve expressed my fear of machines doing all the work in a running gag of my articles. But AI can be controlled with the proper precautions in mind. We can only hope that nobody gets scanned for BG anytime soon and that writers like us will never be replaced. Personally, I’m considering early retirement but AI can’t fill in all the holes. There’s a lot we ought to know about how it will work. I spoke to AI expert Jeff Pedowitz to shed some light on the big scary concern we’re all dealing with and he gave a lot of insight that wasn’t the least bit AI-generated. Read on for some manually transcribed content, the way it should be.
HNMAG: With the SAG-AFTRA Strike looming over the film industry, and work in Canada coming to a halt, one of the main factors for striking is AI replacing a lot of jobs, including acting. Do you truly think AI could replace an actor 100%?
Jeff Pedowitz: No, I don’t. Maybe a background actor, as an image and certainly in Indonesian markets we’re seeing AI characters as newscasters. But the reality is, for a truly great theatrical performance is AI’s not even remotely close to being an actor.
HNMAG: But with the probability of replacing BG actors, will this be a big issue for those who choose to do BG work?
Jeff Pedowitz: It potentially could be, I do think the contracts need to be re-negotiated, I think if an actor is going to provide their likeness, they should be able to receive some type of pay for that as part of their contract. I think that some things will change, this is another technological innovation like how computer graphics are. Everyone’s just going to have to learn to adapt.
HNMAG: Let’s talk more about the impact AI has on jobs. Will we see a steady decline in unemployment for everyone in the film industry?
Jeff Pedowitz: I think that’s a little far-fetched, I think the concerns are warranted. Not just because of AI, but the streaming business model and what that’s done to productions and scheduling. New terms and ideas have to be come up with, but like every career industry, I don’t see actors, writers, and production people being replaced by AI, but I do see them getting replaced by people that use AI as part of their skillset. As the world evolves, we have to learn to embrace the tools that are here. Yes, there are some real concerns but I think these can be ironed out, discussed, negotiated and worked through. But I don’t anybody should be fearing change. This is not a Terminator situation, machines are not going to rise up anytime soon and take over the world. But they are emerging with new capabilities and I think the best thing the union can do is educate its members on what they can do with this technology.
HNMAG: With al the info, people will learn how to use it for their own personal projects and work something out that benefits everybody?
Jeff Pedowitz: Yeah. I think this current situation while obviously a little bit different, has parallels. We’re going to see better innovations that relate to entertainment. People are a little hesitant right now, but I think the studios would serve themselves better. But negotiations never progress positively or progressively if everything’s under the table.
HNMAG: And with AI’s usage, just how much revenue could be made with a project that’s mostly AI-generated?
Jeff Pedowitz: Well, that’s a really good question. I think while some jobs may be eliminated in a very heavy AI production, you’ll need other types of skillsets on the job and you’ll have AI tools to edit. AI can certainly produce imagery, written word, and rudimentary video but editing, sequencing, performing, costume design and lighting, there’s so many aspects that go into professional production. Will the AI tools get better all the time? Sure, we use different kinds of Adobe platforms to create but you still need people. Whenever anyone talks about AI, it gets a little overused.
Jeff explained the meaning behind AI, as we all know it means Artificial Intelligence, meaning the machine is built as completely sentient and emotive. But that’s not truly the case. AI is very powerful software but it doesn’t feel, it TRANSFORMS. Most importantly, it takes a human being to enter something into it in order for something to be transformed. However the creative ability is more the user than the technology itself. AI can’t understand complexities of a situation, and even if it could write a perfect script, you’d need an actor who could interpret those words very differently. That’s truly where beauty of artistry comes in.
He also explained a lot of people are affected by this strike as well, pretty much everyone working on the lots, from caterers to maintenance folks. There’s no telling whose livelihoods could be endangered.
HNMAG: What about property rights? Do you feel actors and directors should have rights given AI’s usage?
Jeff Pedowitz: I think it needs to be spelled out, if you’re going to avertly use AI, you should at least tell your audience and source you’re using it for material. If you’re going to be leveraging a writer’s written words or an actor’s likeness there should be attribution and credit for that.
HNMAG: Seeing how effective is AI compared to humans, while it is more efficient, can it understand feelings better than we can?
Jeff Pedowitz: In terms of processing things, calculating, and looking things up, and sequencing and those highly repetitive tasks, AI is exceptionally good at. But in terms of emotion, and understanding nuance and context, it has no ability to do that. Its work is based upon its training and model, and there are biases in that training data and that model. Human beings have those biases too, depending on how you were raised and where you grew up. All those kinds of things make up who we are, as individuals. I think the most beautiful part of media is you’re getting this diverse group of people to come together and make a work of art. They’re all bringing their unique experiences and skills to the director who produces the outcome. AI really is waning for employment, but it can only do a fast lookup and come back with something. Now AI will get better overtime, but many times you can still tell that it’s just a machine.
HNMAG: And with AI growth trending currently, could it be a potential danger?
Jeff Pedowitz: I don’t think anything should be completely unchecked, I am a believer in capitalism and democracy, and people figuring things out on their own vs. government being heavy-handed. I would much rather see the unions and studios sit and come up with their own rules for how they want to use it in contracts vs. waiting for congress to come out with something. I don’t believe in that, but doesn’t mean I don’t believe in any regulations at all.
Jeff gave a good example of the smartphone which came out some time ago, back in a time when nobody ever thought of using a phone for banking. He thinks we’ve proven as a society that we would trade privacy for convenience given what technology is allowing us to do these days. Is it any wonder why I don’t use my phone too often these days? Besides the fact that it’s an old model with a very weak battery? But it’s important for protection to be in place. For protective online banking on phones, Jeff says there should also be protection placed in the actors and people who work on upcoming productions. However, we all should be aware that things are always going to change.
HNMAG: Technological Progression is inevitable, it seems. But will we always need people to operate it just so everything isn’t automated in the future?
Jeff Pedowitz: Correct, and if it did what does that say about us as a society? I think one of the ultimate things that we do as human beings is create. So are we going to leave the creativity to the machines? It just doesn’t make a lot of sense. Normally, you’d sketch and provide concepts before you start to prepare. With AI, you might be able to generate 50 images in 5 seconds. Then you can sort through it, but AI can’t sell it for you the same way that AI can’t direct the actors and pull the performances out of them. AI is not going to be able to manage the budget or organize the unions, it can’t prepare the food. There’s a lot of people still needed to bring a production to life.
HNMAG: AI is certainly creative and can enhance work, but can it truly understand what it takes to see something in the director’s perspective?
Jeff Pedowitz: AI is definitely a big reason for the contract disputes, but also what’s happening to the industry overall. First we had the pandemic, that was nobody’s fault but that dried up a lot of new revenue streams for a couple of years because people couldn’t actually go to work. Then the rise of streaming, and every studio or big house is investing tens of billions of dollars to create content, but they’re losing money because subscriptions aren’t bringing in enough revenue to cover what they’re spending to beat their competition. So they had to arrange a special shooting schedule. If you’re used to working on a studio for a year it gives you good steady job security and a paycheque. In cable, when you perform as an actor, you get good royalties, but in streaming it’s not entirely clear because they don’t share data with the writers so you don’t know how popular your show is. I think those business models have to change to allow for where our industry is heading now compared to where its been.
HNMAG: And as far as cost-saving measures, can you list some that don’t affect or replace people looking for employment?
Jeff Pedowitz: I think there are certain places instead of maybe having 8 writers in a row, have 3 or 4 writers and use AI as a backdrop. That certainly helps save some money and speed up time, I think it’s really more where it’s going to be used. If people are already looking for work because they don’t have it, I’m not sure that AI changes it one way or the other. What I would encourage people to do is add new skills. I think that voice acting is going to be one of the first areas that sees a big increase because AI will be much better with animated productions than it will be with live actors. If you’re an actor and not getting background work or spots in a show, you’ll want to look at voice.
HNMAG: What about Re-Training and Upskilling? What does it take to maintain AI so it doesn’t go overboard and replace workers?
Jeff Pedowitz: Before we get to that part, which I think is a little armageddon-ish, people are probably taking this a bit too far but I certainly think there’s so much AI training out there, a lot of free tools that are available. The union members should be making sure they’re getting educated about what’s out there. They should probably assign a few people on their leadership who are responsible for bringing trends and upgrading the membership on a quarterly annual basis. Representatives should be working with studios and production houses on trends and changes and uses of AI in the coming year. That’ll provide a lot more transparency and clarity. The other thing I think that the union can do is entertainers should get together on their own and make their own productions outside of studios. That will give them a lot more control over their own art, who sees it, how they get paid for it.
HNMAG: Can you tell me what the ethics are for AI usage?
Jeff Pedowitz: First and foremost, I think you need to disclose to the audience and people how you’re using AI. If you’re going to be sourcing, using, or reapplying human beings likeness or words, you should be giving the proper attribution. I think just like we protect confidentiality and uphold the law, when interacting and working with AI, we should apply those standards. Just because it might reduce cost savings, it’s something that would inadvertently hurt a portion of the population that’s impacted by a production.
HNMAG: And what about regulations for AI implementation?
Jeff Pedowitz: Again, this is where I would prefer to see each business come up with their own regulations to figure out what works for them, vs government coming up with something. I just think that the government trying to regulate this level across all the different industries won’t be able to come up with something. The government is always helplessly behind in most of these trends anyway (laughs). I would much rather see the studios and unions come together and figure out what regulations should be for themselves. They should self-regulate.
If there’s anything we should take from these truths, and learn, it’s that the industry will always need people on film sets. Also, that actors won’t be replaced anytime soon in order to give the best feel for a movie. I felt a lot more relieved after all this information was processed, but Executives and Strikers and everyone else in the industry still need to come to a deal that satisfies everyone. It’s going to be hard for sure, but I’ll bet everything will be solved soon. In the meantime, I’ll continue finding work in other ways. It wouldn’t be the first time.