The first US writers’ strike in 15 years has entered its second month, and many say this time the future of human creativity is on the line.
Sam Meikle is a board member of the Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) and attended a recent meeting of the Writers’ Guild of America, whose members have been on strike since May 1.
What he heard made him angry.
“What I’m hearing is that there is an appetite to use artificial intelligence in the future to do things like generate first drafts … and to use writers to simply polish stories,” Meikle said.
If writers are only used to refine stories, production companies will save at least $137,000 per hired writer on their projects.
The writers want their next enterprise agreement to include a commitment that won’t happen.
But the Alliance Of Motion Picture And Television Producers (AMPTP) have so far refused to accept this, instead offering writers “annual meetings to discuss advancements in technology”.
The AMPTP — which represents the major film and television studios, and streaming platforms – did not answer questions sent by the ABC but said in a statement released earlier this year that the current enterprise agreement already stated only a “person” could be a writer.
“For example, AI-generated material would not be eligible for a writing credit,” the statement read.
Writers taking their first steps with AI
Melbourne screenwriter Michael Lucas, who created the ABC series The Newsreader, says he and his colleagues have been tentatively exploring ChatGPT’s creative functions.
“We’ve been sort of playfully plugging things in in the writer’s room just to see what can happen,” Lucas says.
“At the moment all you’re getting is a regurgitation of things that are sourced on the internet.
“So at the moment, we’ve been laughing at it to a certain extent, but it’s worth bearing in mind how new it is.”
But there are some in the screenwriting industry who are trying to speed up its development as a creative tool.
Novice screenwriter and entrepreneur Phillip Berg has created A.I Screenwriter – a program that can create entire film plots from basic prompts.
It’s just one in a growing wave of AI-powered script-writing programs – all vying to win over sceptical screenwriters and risk-averse studio executives.
“You still need a human to drive it, it’s not going to replace you,” Berg says.
“You still need a critical thinker behind it because what it’s going to generate is not something you can use as a finished result.”
Berg hopes his creation will be a lifeline to writers struggling for ideas and facing tight deadlines.
“The tool will help you more in the tedious tasks,” he says.
“It will just speed up the process and actually make you more creative. You’ll become a super-writer.”
But Meikle believes shortening the writing process – by having AI do things like research for writers – will make writers worse at their jobs.
“Sometimes a piece of work is stronger for the cul-de-sacs that you’ve been down before you arrive at the right solution,” he says.
“The really insidious thing [about using AI] is that you may not see the degradation of the craft skill for a decade or two decades. And the problem is, once you see it, it’s too late.”
Hope human creativity is ‘irreplaceable’
The Australian Writers Guild says it supports the WGA, hoping any wins from the strike will flow through to its members.
Meikle says he fears for the future of his profession if the WGA loses the AI argument.
“I know writers who are just starting out with the fire of creativity and the passion to try and build a career, and I fear for them if that argument is lost,” he says.
And he has a simple message for the people negotiating with the WGA:
“I really would urge them to turn back to their humanity. Not everything is a spreadsheet. Not everything is about returning value to a shareholder.”
Lucas shares many of those concerns, but is hopeful trialling artificially created screenplays will reveal the value of human creativity.
“There’s an optimist part of me that hopes … that actually maybe this will prove there is an intangible human creative spark that is irreplaceable,” he says.
“There are already all these resources out there that tell you the science of screenwriting … and they can be useful, I’ve used them myself, but it’s not like you can use those tools to produce a classic screenplay. You need that intangible instinct to come on top of it.”
Source: ABC News
