#Hollywood’s AI Anxiety Is Showing

If artificial intelligence evangelists’ predictions pan out, generative AI systems like ChatGPT and DALL-E are set to transform Hollywood by developing and writing scripts for the next hit TV show, “diversifying” casts with AI-generated actors and generating imagery across multiple mediums, practically instantly, for a fraction of the cost of a real, human artist. But how long will it take for the vision to meet reality — and can a select group of companies, similar to the rise of Facebook and social media — be trusted to herald the way?

Driving much of the current conversation around A.I. innovation has been OpenAI, an A.I research company with both non-profit and for-profit arms. Just four months after the formal launch of OpenAI’s chatbot, ChatGPT, industry titans like Bill Gates were ready to hail artificial intelligence as the most revolutionary technology of our time since the advent of cell phones and the internet. Major tech companies like Google and Microsoft have invested hundreds of millions into A.I. companies, including OpenAI, as executives look to the technology to steward their companies into the future amid an economic downturn that has particularly hit digital native companies hard.

Proponents of widespread A.I. adoption have looked to these systems as tools, rather than total replacements, for the creatives who have clawed their way into Hollywood to tell the stories they care about the most. That’s the way OpenAI’s co-founder and president, Greg Brockman, described his company’s APIs on March 10 — as an “amplification of what humans can do.”

“It’s kind of like if you hire six assistants who are not perfect. They need to train up a little bit. They don’t quite know exactly what you want, always, but they’re so eager and never sleep. They’re there to help you. They’re willing to do the drudge work, and you get to be the director,” Brockman said at a SXSW panel. “That is going to be what writing will look like. I think that’s what coding will look like. I think that’s what business communication will look like. But I also think that is what entertainment will look like.”

Not everyone has bought into this narrative. Artists have spoken out against tools like DALL-E, given existing examples of AI-generated art that artists have argued mimic their styles and infringe on their copyright without proper licensing or commission fees. And multiple copyright lawsuits have been filed by artists who are accusing AI art generators Stability AI, Midjourney and DeviantArt of infringing on their works.

Creators like Cassey Ho, who’s behind the popular fitness brands Blogilates and Popflex, also say they’re wary of supporting AI tools that can easily exploit the work of artists. 

“Coming from the creative side of things, I don’t like — at least the photo-based stuff — how you’re kind of riding on the backs of actual artists, and now someone who could have made a commission off of that no longer gets that commission because this robot just turned 100 of what they could’ve done into this free thing,” Ho said during another SXSW panel. “I like the idea of it being a co-pilot, but when it’s riding off the backs of creatives, I don’t feel good about it.” 

The same anxieties around credit and compensation extend into the inner workings of Hollywood, where unanswered questions about AI’s ability to transform the future of entertainment have already informed discussions at unions like the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA as writers and actors, among others, seek to protect their work and right to compensation.

“Human creators are the foundation of the creative industries and we must ensure that they are respected and paid for their work,” SAG-AFTRA said in a statement on March 17. “Governments should not create new copyright or other IP exemptions that allow AI developers to exploit creative works, or professional voices and likenesses, without permission or compensation. Trustworthiness and transparency are essential to the success of AI. SAG-AFTRA will continue to prioritize the protection of our member performers against the unauthorized use of their voices, likenesses and performances.” 

The Writers Guild is also in the midst of negotiations with studios around the use of AI in the writing process, likening tools like ChatGPT to research material like, for instance, Wikipedia. “The WGA’s proposal to regulate use of material produced using artificial intelligence or similar technologies ensures the Companies can’t use AI to undermine writers’ working standards including compensation, residuals, separated rights and credits,” the guild wrote.

When asked about intellectual property rights for artists whose work has trained AI-generated art, OpenAI’s Brockman didn’t offer a clear answer. “This is like asking a question about exactly how copyright should work right at the creation of the Gutenberg Press,” Brockman said. “We are going to need to have an answer. We’re engaging with the Copyright Office, we’re engaging with lots of different areas, and I don’t personally know what exactly the answer should be.”

But on March 16, the U.S. Copyright Office declared that AI “assisted” works could be eligible for copyright protection, though the clarification has done more to muddy the waters than to clear them. “Based on the Office’s understanding of the generative AI technologies currently available, users do not exercise ultimate creative control over how such systems interpret prompts and generate material,” reads the guidance.

“There’s a fine line between when is something inspiring someone versus when is someone just ripping off or absolutely treading protected intellectual property,” Candle Media’s chief development officer, Brent Weinstein, said in a SXSW panel. “AI is going to force us to examine that fine line and rules will be written, and we will all adapt to a new world order.”

A version of this story first appeared in the March 29 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.