(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . The WGA agreement may have changed our relationship with AI creativity [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.'] Date: 2023-09-28 “The Writer’s Strike is Over!” newsletters and official writers’ markets announced triumphantly, and yes, there is much to celebrate. The strike lasted over 100 days and there were anonymous executives telling Deadline: “The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses.” Ron Perlman had something to say about that, rebuking the executive by letting him know he would cause families to starve. What followed Perlman’s statement were a few choice words I stood up and applauded. I love Ron Perlman. Some folks didn’t get it I ran into people, even in the progressive liberal space, who felt the writer’s strike was much ado about nothing. “Why don’t you get another job,” one such yokel glibly asked me in a let-them-eat-cake fashion. I have been working in the creative and graphics industry for over two decades. I am also in my 50s, ageism is a thing, and I have an autoimmune disorder as well as an autistic son, but yeah, let me go fill out an application at Walmart to pay my mortgage and medical bills I guess? Another derided the American Couch Potato by declaring, “I don’t watch TV and I find it to be the fodder of malcontents and low-lifes.” He went on to say that no particular industry would last forever and that he preferred theater. Well, bully for you Old Chap. What elitist, narcissistic tripe! Not everyone has money for theater or even enjoys attending those types of events. FYI, attending a type of entertainment or enjoying a particular type of media does not make you more intelligent, special, or better. Get over yourself! TV and micro entertainment provide a wide range of affordable options in different mediums, allowing for everyone's tastes and budgets. Do they seriously think the only people who should have access to a little bit of steam-releasing fun are the rich? The world does not and should not revolve around one individual’s personal enjoyment! The terms of the contract The WGA agreement with the AMPTP appears to have wide-ranging implications for American labor overall, in spite of some people’s holier-than-thou attitudes about the industry. Just what did the WGA snag for the grunts working 12 hours a day in sweaty, closed writers’ rooms to bring dragons and drama to the masses? Mashable had some of the best breakdowns for mass consumption, excerpts below: AI can't be used to write scripts The new agreement affirms that AI is not considered a writer, and anything it generates can't be considered literary, assigned, or source material. It does leave room for writers to use artificial intelligence as a tool, provided the production company consents. However writers can't be compelled to use AI to create material, and the company must disclose if they give a writer AI-generated material to work with. (Read more on this aspect here) Writing is a skilled profession too. Now, here is the gravy that we were all waiting for and the agreement was swank! I seriously feel every job that may be impacted by AI in the future should use this as a paradigm. It allows for the ethical use of a technology that is not going to go away, instead, it will become faster and even better as time goes on. By formalizing an agreement on how to use it and protect workers simultaneously, the WGA was able to provide the ability to guard creative and other IP-related jobs. Nioce! As stated previously, Mashable reporter Amanda Yeo perfectly explains things here in ways I envy—full article here: Better streaming residuals and transparency regarding numbers A big talking point going into the strike was the compensation (or relative lack thereof) that writers receive from streaming services. The new deal will see this get boosted in a big way, with large increases to foreign streaming residual payments and a new bonus based on streamer viewership. The former will now be based on a streamer's foreign subscribers, amounting to a 76 percent increase in residuals from the largest platforms, while "a bonus equal to 50 percent of the fixed domestic and foreign residual" will be payable on films or series viewed by 20 percent or more of a platform's domestic subscribers in the first 90 days. Increased minimum rates for writers At the beginning of May, the WGA was demanding annual minimum rate increases of 5 to 6 percent, while the AMPTP was offering 2 to 4 percent. Under September's tentative agreement, most minimums will be increasing by 5 percent this year, followed by 4 percent in 2024 and 3.5 percent in 2025. A list of current minimums can be found on the WGA website. Minimum staffing for TV writers' rooms Back in May, the WGA was asking for one writer per episode on anything up to a six-episode TV season, then a writer for every two episodes after that (up to a maximum of 12 writers in total). The AMPTP rejected this and refused to counter. Clearly solid progress has been made, though, because the new proposed deal outlines minimum staffing numbers for writers and writer-producers across seasons of varying lengths (three writers, including three writer/producers for a series of six episodes or less, moving up to six writers, including three writer/producers, on a series of 13+ episodes). [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/9/28/2196179/-The-WGA-agreement-may-have-changed-our-relationship-with-AI-creativity Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/