IATSE Plans Multipronged Approach to Address AI Use in Hollywood
thewrap.comInternational Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees announced on Wednesday its “core principles” to addressing the rise of artificial intelligence in the entertainment industry, outlining its multifaceted approach to addressing technology that the below-the-line workers union says “threatens tofundamentally alter employers’ business models and disrupt IATSE members’ livelihoods.”“The stakes involved are high, therefore IATSE’s approach as a union must be comprehensive,focusing on Research, Collaboration, Education, Political and Legislative Advocacy, Organizing,and Collective Bargaining,” the union wrote.The announcement comes after IATSE political and legislative director Tyler McIntosh met this past weekend with Biden Administration officials and other union leaders for a discussion on the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on labor.
Among those present were SAG-AFTRA general counsel Jeffrey Bennett, Writers Guild of America East executive director Lowell Peterson, and representatives from non-entertainment labor orgs such as AFSCME, AFL-CIO, and United Auto Workers.
As part of its plans, IATSE has developed a special commission that will research how AI is being used in Hollywood both now and in the near future, as well as which jobs under IATSE jurisdiction are most at-risk of being altered or outright replaced by AI.
The union will use the commission’s information to “advance enforceable legislative and collective bargaining oversight.”IATSE is also developing programs to educate its members about how artificial intelligence will affect them, including a new online training course available for free to IATSE members on LinkedIn.
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