Potential Backfires in the Actors AI Deal

The Town with Matthew Belloni

The Ringer

Society & Culture

4.3 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 17 November 2023

⏱️ 35 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Matt is joined by Justine Bateman—writer, director, producer, former actress, and SAG-AFTRA negotiation committee consultant on the use of AI—to discuss the protections established against the use of AI in the new SAG-AFTRA deal. She voices criticisms of the AI portion of the contract, and highlights potential loopholes that could significantly affect working actors and permanently alter the future of filmmaking. Matt finishes the show with a prediction about the upcoming release of ‘The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes’. For a 20 percent discount on Matt’s Hollywood insider newsletter, ‘What I’m Hearing ...,’ click here. Email us your thoughts! thetown@spotify.com Host: Matt Belloni Guest: Justine Bateman Producer: Craig Horlbeck and Jessie Lopez Theme Song: Devon Renaldo Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	For all your fantasy football needs, check out the Ringer Fantasy Football Show with me, Danny Highfitz, and Craig Horrellbeck.
0:07.9	That's the Ringer Fantasy Football Show on Spotify or wherever you get your podcast.
0:14.4	It is Thursday, November 16th.
0:17.8	There's a lot for actors to be excited about in the deal that was just negotiated by SAG
0:22.5	AfterA that ended the months-long actor strike.
0:25.8	7% wage increase, new residual pool for shows and movies that are hits on streaming,
0:31.3	a bunch of other stuff.
0:32.6	And if you believe the Union and its leaders, Fran Drescher and Duncan Crabtree, Ireland,
0:36.9	who came on this very show
0:38.2	last week, SAG established huge protections against the use of AI by studios that might want to
0:44.3	reduce costs by replacing actors using generative AI. But since an 18-page summary of the deal was
0:51.5	made public on Sunday, there's been some criticism of the AI portion
0:54.9	of the contract. It's kind of to be expected. Sag Afterra has about 160,000 members, many of them
1:01.0	with very different opinions about this stuff. Even the national board has about 80 people on it.
1:06.7	The vote to send the deal to the membership for ratification was 86% in favor.
1:12.3	With some dissenters specifically citing the AI issue and what they didn't achieve,
1:17.2	there should be no AI, one board member, Anne-Marie Johnson, told Variety this week.
1:22.0	Quote, only human beings should be used in what we create for public consumption.
1:26.1	Without staving off AI, everything we achieved is for naught.
1:30.0	It's a waste of time.
1:31.7	Well, the sag after position was never to ban AI.
1:35.3	Duncan was pretty clear when he came on the show that trying to stop technology never works.
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