Artists Fear AI Will Replace Them in Their Careers

The SAG-AFTRA actors’ union leaders claim that their members are worried about losing their jobs as a result of artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This week, negotiations for a new contract between the trade union and Hollywood film companies got underway. The principal actor representative negotiating with film companies is Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. He is the negotiator for SAG-AFTRA. According to him, actors each have a unique set of skills that set them apart from other performers. When discussing those attributes, he mentioned the name, voice, likeness, and personality of the performer. Crabtree-Ireland aims to guarantee that performers continue to benefit financially from their unique talents.

The labor union, for instance, seeks to stop film studios from utilizing an actor’s still from one picture to produce a “digital double” for a different picture. It has previously been possible to create “deepfakes” of well-known stars Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise using artificial intelligence techniques. Technology, according to Reeves, is “scary.” The word “deepfake” refers to videos that appear authentic but are not. Deepfakes are able to be created with AI. Since OpenAI introduced ChatGPT late last year, there has been an increase in interest in AI technologies.  Generative AI refers to the tools that can produce both sound and visual content. It is possible to use actual footage of a person to create the impression that they are speaking something they have never said.

Actors Harrison Ford and James Earl Jones, who are older, told filmmakers they could employ artificial intelligence. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny will feature Ford. In the 1980s, he made his debut as Indiana Jones. He is now eighty years old. Ford makes brief appearances as a young man in the new film. To make Ford appear younger, the filmmakers employed artificial intelligence (AI) rather than a different actor. They made use of pictures from his role in the Raiders of the Lost Ark movie from 1981. James Earl Jones recently had an interview with Vanity Fair. He claims he consented to have his voice replicated by artificial intelligence for the Star Wars film. Jones, who is 92 years old, voices Darth Vader.