The A.I. panic is setting in, and opposition to the tentative SAG-AFTRA agreement is growing. The deal is still expected to be ratified by the union’s 160,000 members when voting closes Dec. 5, and I stand by my conclusion on Sunday that president Fran Drescher, national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, and the negotiating committee and staff achieved the best deal possible. If members compare the contract to an idealized perfect agreement and vote it down, they may find themselves facing months more on the picket lines—and possibly no A.I. protections at all when the dust settles.
All of that said, it’s worth looking at the various concerns that members are raising: that A.I. is a job killer and “soul destroyer” and should be banned; that actors’ consent to digital replicas will be coerced; and that the A.I. provisions will hurt stunt personnel, in particular.
