Some unions have made recent strides, such as Hollywood directors who struck interim agreements with studios on Saturday, pledging that artificial intelligence “will never be replaced.” This was one of the first concessions organized workers got on AI protection.
“Our industry is changing rapidly,” said Director’s Guild of America president Leslie Linka Glatter in a statement Tuesday after the Directors Guild of America board unanimously approved the interim agreement. “This agreement is what we need to adapt to these changes.”
But for other industries, it will be a more complex and prolonged battle. According to economists. Trade union membership is declining, companies have more leverage in bargaining battles, and trade unions need to find messages that appeal to cost-cutting leaders, the experts added. This tug-of-war over technology is an early glimpse of how organized workers can be effective in protecting workers.
Daron Acemoglu, an economics professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, said there was no reason to believe that management alone would make the right decisions about how to use AI. “We need workers’ voices,” he said.
One member, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, said the Writers Guild wasn’t always concerned about AI. At a pre-strike rally at the Hollywood Palladium Theater in February, members said people laughed when AI was brought up during a Q&A session.
After five or six weeks, the story changed. News articles, street speeches, and protest signs were all about AI. Talking about the labor struggle in terms of automation made it more accessible to the public, members said.
Months later, representatives of the Writers Guild of America said the studio didn’t even intend to involve AI during negotiations, and the union knew it would be a big deal. But it’s hard to tell if it’s a current threat, said members. “Maybe they are ready to replace all of us,” said the member, adding that AI was an integral part of the strike.
The WGA, pointing to a tweet that said it proposed regulating AI, confirmed that it had held a meeting to discuss the deal.
Trade unions are accustomed to fighting advances in technology. In the 1950s, the Auto Workers’ Union fought to incorporate numerical calculators into automobile manufacturing without replacing assembly line workers. Warehouse workers are calling for robots not to replace them. After the rise of tools like the internet and spreadsheets, office workers sought protection.
But industry experts said the generative artificial intelligence that underpins products that create text, video and audio will be a challenge. AI can produce enough content to replace certain types of jobs, such as entry-level writing, translation, and paralegal work. Some companies are willing to replace humans, even if they offer lower-quality jobs, the experts added.
This dynamic will force unions to adapt their messages, Acemoglu said. Don’t get into the argument by saying you’re totally against artificial intelligence. Instead, he said, management needs to stress that AI without human involvement is costly to make mistakes and can lead to mediocre work that hurts the brand.
In addition, unions will come to the bargaining table and ask for a role in deciding how technology will be used with workers, to replace, not replace, creative work. It should be marketed as a tool used to harden, he said.
Hollywood can learn from other industries that have battled artificial intelligence.
In the mid-2010s, AI researchers made breakthroughs in using neural networks to recognize and classify images. By feeding the algorithm millions of images, the software developed a unique way of recognizing patterns. As AI technology has improved, it has become prevalent in facial recognition and many other applications.
Technology leaders were quick to predict that AI would completely disrupt medical fields such as radiology and dermatology, where doctors need to learn the nuances of X-ray images and skin blemishes on patients.
In 2017, the American College of Radiologists (ACR) researched AI, educated its members about the use and risks of the technology, and empowered technical leaders to serve as advocates for doctors who are facing job losses. Established the Data Science Institute for the purpose. The group isn’t against AI, but argues that doctors should always be at the center of decisions about how technology is used.
According to a 2021 study by the ACR Institute, tech executives still cite radiology as the field to be overthrown by AI, but despite the availability of multiple tools, the majority of radiologists Not using AI.
“Despite all the hype around AI over the past five years, our survey found that less than 30% of ACR members use AI in their clinical workflows,” the group said. said in a blog post announcing the study.
For years, pilots have also lobbied airlines to replace them with automation. Since the 20th century, civil aviation crews have had him from 4-5 people, and now he rarely has more than two. Improvements in technology and automation have allowed airlines to cut navigators, radio operators and third pilots, leaving only pilots and co-pilots.
But even with advances in autopilot technology, human pilots have staunchly resisted attempts to reduce flight crews to one.
Joe DePete, president of the Airline Pilots Association, which represents thousands of U.S. and Canadian pilots, said in 2022, “We have two experienced pilots who are well trained and rested on the flight deck. It’s the most important safety feature for airliners.” He responded to a wave of reports suggesting that robot pilots are on the horizon. “The association will continue to resist those who seek to reduce or completely eliminate this important safety feature.”
Aviation industry regulators have also expressed concern that automation could make pilots more complacent. A 2022 memo from the Federal Aviation Administration said that overreliance on technology was a key factor in accidents in which planes hit power lines and the ground before reaching landing strips.
“The most insidious aspect of automation is that it tends to breed complacency and undermine pilot confidence,” the FAA wrote in a note. “The more time you spend on autopilot, the less time you have to maintain your hands-on skills.”
The Hollywood strike is beneficial, Acemoglu added. The Writers Guild has proposed regulations on how AI can be used to create scripts and rewrite literary works, but film company executives oppose holding an annual meeting to discuss the technology. are doing.
The board of directors reached a tentative agreement on a clause confirming that “AI is not human and generative AI cannot replace a member’s duties.”
Acemoglu said it was encouraging for the directors to get concessions from the film studios, but it was more important to see how the studios negotiate with the writers who have been in the picket line for six weeks.
“Since the number of directors has been significantly reduced, their powers have become even greater,” he added. “There are so many screenwriters that they may not be strong enough.”
Dylan Brody, a seven-year member of the Writers Guild, appreciates the union’s focus on artificial intelligence in its negotiations with film executives.
Brody, 59, tested her ability to produce TV episodes on ChatGPT and recently worked on the family sitcom “Working Mother Surprised to Have to Support Husband When He Loses His Job and Takes Over the Housework.” requested the production of
The results were lackluster. “There was no real laughter anywhere,” he says.
The Writers Guild needs to make sure studios don’t replace their members with artificial intelligence, he said, because the technology can’t produce equal work in creativity or quality. Brody also said that the authors’ fight against AI resonated with the members in the picket line and fueled their support.
“War with robots, are you kidding?” he said. “It’s something that sparks the imagination. It’s a rallying cry.”
Nitasha Tiku contributed to this report.
