A tough act

From red carpet to picketA group of people who stand outside a workplace during a strike persuading other workers not to enter. line. On Thursday night, the cast of the blockbuster Oppenheimer left the UK premiere to join a global strikeWhen people refuse to work until their demands for changes have been met. of Hollywood writers and actors.

TV shows will be postponed. Films delayed. The Emmy and Academy Awards left in doubt.

Strikers want fairer pay from online streaming and protection against artificial intelligenceArtificial intelligence, or "AI," is the ability for a computer to think and learn. With AI, computers can perform tasks that are typically done by people, including processing language, problem-solving, and learning.. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) fears AI is putting actors out of work.

But does this matter? UK doctors are also striking. Are they more important to society? And if AI can make movies - why stop it?

AI helps artists and filmmakers create stunning movies with less money, says actor Tye Sheridan. He has helped create an app that makes it easier to use computer-generated characters.

"We saw this coming," says Tom Hanks. A younger digital version of himself will appear in a sequel to Forrest Gump. And he expects his AI avatarAn icon or figure representing someone online. "to go on and on" making films.

CSI resurrected Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia in Rogue One and gave Christopher Reeve a comeback cameo as Superman in The Flash.

Journalist James Troughton calls this "spoonfed nostalgiaThe feelings of happiness and slight sadness you get when remembering the past. " that puts living actors out of work and disrespects the rights of the dead.

But could AI take a lead role? Animator Lukas Niklaus doubts it. "Human emotions are too complex for an AI to fully grasp." Only a skilled actor can make a character believable.

And evidence suggests cinema-going is good for our mental health.¹ Performers have a "timeless function to carry our fears, desires, and hopes", argues theatre actor Jackie Apodaca.

In 1960, the strike lasted 21 weeks. Insiders warn the current action could last months. So we may soon discover what a world without actors is like.

Yes: "Survival is insufficient," wrote Emily St. John Mandel in Station Eleven, her post-apocalyptic novel about acting. We will always need actors, for they help us understand what it means to be human.

No: Acting is just about making things look real. Computers are better at that than humans. In the future, we will be guaranteed five-star entertainment with AI-made films tailored to our personal tastes.

Or... New technology always changes entertainment. Film actors need different skills from theatre performers. AI will not make acting obsolete, but it may profoundly alter what it means to be an actor.