The WGA ended a nearly 150-day strike and introduced a comprehensive set of regulations to govern the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in content creation. These new regulations are monumental; as AI continues to expand across every sector, for now, humans will remain behind Hollywood.

Under the new regulations, AI is explicitly prohibited from writing or even re-writing material, and any material generated by AI will not be considered source material under the Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA). This provision is ultimately aimed to reinforce the central role of human writers in the creative process. 

The writer, however, can choose to use AI in their writing services, with consent from the company or studio. This decision remains completely in the hands of the writer, and a company or studio cannot compel a writer to do so, upholding the principle of individual choice for creatives. 

In the name of transparency, the new regulations require companies to disclose to the writer if any material had been generated by AI, in order to give writers the ability to make informed decisions about materials they work with. 

Finally, the writers union asserts that using content from WGA writers for the purpose of training AI is prohibited, in an effort to safeguard writers against the misuse of their work in the name of AI development. 

The WGGB and AI

The UK’s writers union – the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain (WGGB) – has also addressed the predicament of AI in their industry. 

According to them, the government’s whitepaper on AI regulation “failed to address any issues regarding the rights of content producers, such as writers.”

In light of this, the WGGB is calling for a new regulatory body to specifically cover rules governing AI. They are also calling for the government to maintain and strengthen copyright in the UK to avoid copyrighted material being used to train AI models. According to an internal WGGB poll, 81% of respondents somewhat strongly agreed that writers should be paid a fee when their work is used by AI systems.

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They also wish to “establish a clear definition of what constitutes solely AI-generated work, and work made with the intervention of creators.”

Finally, the UK union calls for the right to know when decisions were made by AI, and have the opportunity to challenge them through human review. 

All of this, being vital steps to address the WGGB’s seven main concerns around AI which are: 

1. The Government is not doing enough to protect writers.
2. AI developers are using writers’ work without their permission.
3. AI developers are infringing writers’ copyright.
4. AI tools do not properly identify where AI has been used to create content.
5. Increased AI use will lead to fewer job opportunities for writers.
6. The use of AI will suppress writers’ pay.
7. AI will dilute the contributions made by the creative industry to the UK economy and national identity.