In a recent episode of Black Mirror, an office worker called Joan turns on her television to find a new series based on her own life, and she is being played by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek. To her horror, the episodes portray her life in real time, from a clandestineDone in a secretive way. rendezvousA meeting at an agreed place and time. with her toxic ex-boyfriend to her apatheticShowing no interest. attitude to her co-workers.

She tries to reach out to Salma Hayek, and finds out that it is being done without the actor's consent through CGIComputer-generated imagery.-based virtual actors. And neither of them have legal recourse: in signing the streaming service's terms and conditions, Joan gave permission for them to watch her every move, and Hayek gave permission for them to use her image.

The episode explores a dystopianRelating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice.  reality where actors have signed their images away to streaming services and major studios, meaning that they can appear in a movie or series through CGI without even leaving their beds. But some feel it is not too far from reality.

Of all the things we expected artificial intelligence technology to revolutioniseChange something dramatically., few guessed that film and TV would be one of the first to fall. But the SAG-AFTRAThe Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is an American union for media professionals. and Writers Guild of America strikes have been one of the most widely-publicised disputes for protection against AI yet.

And now, video games have joined the arena. Video game actors, who are also represented by SAG-AFTRA, have been trying to force renegotiations over a contract with the major gaming studios for over a year now.

More than 98% of SAG-AFTRA union members voted in favour of strike action to push gaming studios to reach an adequate agreement with them. While this does not mean that a strike is certain, it gives the union the ability to call one if negotiations fall through. 

One of the major sticking points in negotiations is protection against generative AI replacing working actors, just like in Charlie Brooker's "dystopian" TV show Black Mirror. Actors are also demanding an 11% wage increase and on-set medics for risky stunts.

Meanwhile, writers of the Writers Guild of America, who have been on strike since July, are soon to return to work after striking a tentativeUnconfirmed or hesitant. agreement with studios and streaming services. Striking SAG-AFTRA television and film actors will resume negotiations with Hollywood studios on a new labour contract early this week.

Proponents of the strike argue that AI presents an existentialRelating to the state of human existence. Existential dread can refer to grappling with your own experiences of responsibility and death. threat to actors. Using voice actors means paying for months of labour, but with AI, studios can pay a small one-off sum for an actor's voice and make them say anything they want.

Some actors have even already had their voices sold and cloned without their consent. This means that they are essentially competing against themselves for a living - the real version of them in competition with their stolen, isolated voice.

Not only does this raise the spectre of the complete destruction of a major creative profession, but some say it also puts the creative process at risk. Actors are not supposed to just read words off a script. They are supposed to understand their characters, improvise and embellishAdd extra details or features to something to make it more impressive. the script - all things that AI voices cannot do.

Many condemn the studios for sacrificing artistry for lower costs. But others say the creative industries are fair game - if we can make them more efficient using technology, we should.

Yes: Video games, films and TV series are supposed to be about collaboration between a creative team to create something brilliant. You cannot achieve that level of creativity whilst using AI, and the quality of the product will undoubtedly suffer.

No: We live in a world where the demand for TV and video games is rising exponentially. In order to keep up with this demand, studios have to make the development of games and TV more efficient.

Or... The larger problem is not losing our creative skills, but allowing the development of AI to steal people's identities and livelihoods. No actor should have to face having their voice stolen and used to say things they did not consent to.

Clandestine - Done in a secretive way.

Rendezvous - A meeting at an agreed place and time.

Apathetic - Showing no interest.

CGI - Computer-generated imagery.

Dystopian - Relating to an imagined society where there is great suffering or injustice. 

Revolutionise - Change something dramatically.

SAG-AFTRA - The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists is an American union for media professionals.

Tentative - Unconfirmed or hesitant.

Existential - Relating to the state of human existence. Existential dread can refer to grappling with your own experiences of responsibility and death.

Embellish - Add extra details or features to something to make it more impressive.