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Writers Guild and AI

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
From what I understand, it's at least in part trying to defend writers from AI, but I haven't dug deep. I think it also allows AI as an assistant to the writer while trying to keep software companies from being able to take a cut of any monetary value created by the AI, or writing credit.


 
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Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
I like this from the WGA, it gets to the point of AI generated work, emphasis mine.

“They can make the writer aware of AI-generated content,” the WGA posted via its Twitter account. “But, like all research material, it has no role in guild-covered work, nor in the chain of title in the intellectual property. It is important to note that AI software does not create anything. It generates a regurgitation of what it’s fed.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
I think this works so long as they have some cards to hold. Which, as time goes on, they will have less of.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Considering that AI could threaten to destroy the entire industry, it might be in their best interests to hold out as long as possible. Of course, considering the dredge that H'wood produces, maybe it needs a good enema. In many cases, it couldn't happen to better people and a better industry. The writers are, of course, the featherless chickens in the pecking order of the coop, and probably the least to blame for the rot.

And maybe it wouldn't be so different after all, if you look at the crap they produce, which is mostly regurgitation anyhow. H'wood, I'm not a fan, heh heh.



I think this works so long as they have some cards to hold. Which, as time goes on, they will have less of.
 

pmmg

Myth Weaver
Well... I wish them luck while agreeing their product is not worthy ATM.

I am not sure it is writers, but somewhere in there are people with a bad game plan. I wont miss them.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
I was on the skirts of the film industry with interest from production companies and fled before getting sucked in, and it's my experience with that industry that made the jump to Indie so easy once my editor started filling me in on the behind-the-scenes of the publishing world... and that was 6-7 years ago. It's only gotten whackier in the Big 5 and their imprints.
Well... I wish them luck while agreeing their product is not worthy ATM.

I am not sure it is writers, but somewhere in there are people with a bad game plan. I wont miss them.
 
It's interesting to see the discussion on this, though it might of course end up that they're fighting the inevitable. The main question is, where are we on the innovation scale in terms of how much better the AI can become. If we're just at the start, then it may well be that in 5 years time the WGA lacks any bargaining power when the AI is good enough to create movie scripts to a good enough standard. When that happens, there's little you can do as a writer. What would you accomplish by going on strike for a job that no longer exists.

However, it may well be the case that we're nearing the end of the innovation curve, and that AI will only get marginally better from here on out. In that case, they have little to worry about, and it might be a good idea to make some rules regarding the use of AI etc.
 

Demesnedenoir

Myth Weaver
Screenwriting now is so formulaic that it could be in serious trouble. A Director is part screenwriter as it is, SO, given a little AI help Boom. Writers could be on the cutting floor, even if they're replaced by another person using AI. At the same time, when you as a show like Big Bang Theory, I think AI is a long damned ways from writing a coherent sitcom by itself. I expect episodic drama would be easier, where there is one main plot per show and minimal humor. The more through-line plot a show has, the more difficult it will prove for AI to manage without human help.

Oddly enough, what you could see happen is another era of "Elite" writers because humans have a way of upping their game. If AI hits its potential, all but these "elite" and famous would be replaced first. But first AI writing will become a form of McDonalds. When I had a small winery every vintage was very different, you didn't have to be an expert to tell them apart, while the big wineries in Cali were really shooting for McDonalds, every vintage tasting the same every year so consumers get what they expect. This has basically happened to books, movies, and stories in general. AI will be expert at that crap in the next few years, at least with human prodding, but near term, AI will only produce greatness by chance and financial success through that chance and/or a mass of product.

There are a plethora of possibilities.

It's interesting to see the discussion on this, though it might of course end up that they're fighting the inevitable. The main question is, where are we on the innovation scale in terms of how much better the AI can become. If we're just at the start, then it may well be that in 5 years time the WGA lacks any bargaining power when the AI is good enough to create movie scripts to a good enough standard. When that happens, there's little you can do as a writer. What would you accomplish by going on strike for a job that no longer exists.

However, it may well be the case that we're nearing the end of the innovation curve, and that AI will only get marginally better from here on out. In that case, they have little to worry about, and it might be a good idea to make some rules regarding the use of AI etc.
 

BearBear

Archmage
I think the only major hurdle to throwing out the writers is that AI plagiarizes word for word in many cases. The same is true for AI art to the point that the signature at the bottom is sometimes still present.

This is a legal liability.
 

skip.knox

toujours gai, archie
Moderator
I wonder how well I could make the case that my writing is less regurged than AI is. I call it "inspired by" or in the tradition of, but that might be more an indication of how little we understand the creative process. After all, we don't hesitate to say originality is rare.

Meh. I ain't worried. I write my stories, they get tossed on the AI pyre, and some day they'll be part of a Great Regurgitation. O happy day.
 

BearBear

Archmage
"Your biological and technological distinctiveness will be added to our own." - Borg

"The Borg were inferior, they utilized imperfections." - future AI overlord quote
 
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