By Taylor Sanchez
In the recent Writer’s Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG) strikes much ink was spilled discussing the issue of pay, but one of the major sticking points was the use of generative AI such as ChatGPT to make creative works that could be utilized to eliminate staffing, or using “creative works” to train generative AI. According to the new WGA contract studios must specifically provide protections against the utilization of generative AI and requires semi-annual meetings with the WGA to discuss the evolving nature of AI.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) held a roundtable on generative AI on October 4th. Participants included panelists from the creative fields including SAG-AFTRA. One of the consistent refrains, including from representatives from the FTC, was a desire to see the utilization of current laws to protect those in the creative fields. FTC Chair Lina Khan noted that technology has had the opportunity to make our lives better, and reinvented the way we live in this society. The problem is when we do not first safeguard what that looks like.
Other panelists noted that companies involved in the creation of generative AI do not seem concerned about the impact it will have on our day to day lives. Pew Research noted “Asian workers and college graduates are among the highest paid of workers most exposed to AI. The most exposed workers earn more than the least exposed workers no matter their demographic characteristic, and the gap is especially striking among men, Asian workers and foreign-born workers.”
Low-wage workers are the least likely to be exposed to generative AI, but the vast middle-class of the United States employed in clerical, telecom, analytics, and the creative fields are the most likely to see the possibility of their positions being supplemented or eliminated by the growth in generative AI. With the possibility of vast unemployment from the growth of generative AI, it is incumbent upon the US government to create laws to protect workers, especially those workers most likely to be impacted by the generative AI boom.
Much like with the automation of the automobile industry, and the elimination of good union jobs throughout the US, the US government would benefit from exploring the impact of generative AI now, and not once workers are impacted on a grand scale.