You write an essay using Chat GPT in school — you get a zero, a Hollywood studio writes a script using Chat GPT — they make millions. Why is one of these situations considered plagiarism and the other not? Since the beginning of media, writers have been needed to bring new worlds to life but now with the development of AI their jobs are at risk. Studios are opting for the cheaper option at the cost of human creativity.
Writers in the media industry as of late have been struggling to find stable work and decent pay, their competitors computers. Half of TV writers are getting paid the minimum studios can get away with due to the creation of AI. Their minds are no longer worth the money in the eyes of the studios. It has been long known that AI would likely take over jobs involving math or in factories but creative jobs have always been viewed as safe from computers. This is no longer the case.
To try to protect the creativity in the media industry, WGA (Writers Guild of America) has been on strike for nearly 150 days, primarily fighting for job protection and better pay. The media industry needs humans in the writing room, scripts need to have the touch of humanity that a computer is incapable of creating. AI can not comprehend the certain feel a writer can create. It can not pick up on that sense and write something with that spark.
The other flaw with AI is that nothing it creates is original, it has to get everything it writes from somewhere. Now, people can argue that the same is true from human creation. Nothing really is original but humans can still make something old new again with a creative mind. Take something overdone and make it revolutionary with their heart. Something a computer doesn’t have.
The WGA strike is coming to an end in the coming week and writers have won big. They have struck a new deal with studios guaranteeing them residual payments for shows, more transparency on videoship numbers, rules when using AI, and more. All of these things will help to ensure that writers in the media won’t be going anywhere. They will continue to bring their creations to life in Hollywood and beyond without the fear of AI hanging over their heads.
How much is creativity worth? I think you can’t put a price on it, creativity is something that only a brain attached to a heart can create, it takes more than the research a computer can do. Even though a price can not be placed on creativity, I can tell you that that price is far above the minimum. Writers in Hollywood deserve much more and they got it but many other creatives are still struggling to get the rights they deserve, this is why those in the industry need to continue to stand up for each other to receive what they have earned. AI can never take away what creatives will create.
