Streaming behemoths are putting money into artificial intelligence, with Los Gatos-based Netflix leading the charge, as writers and actresses continue to go on strike to demand fair compensation.
Netflix’s top leadership appears to be hedging its chances and going all in on AI projects, despite the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers failing to meet requests from the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild.
The yearly salary range for a Research Scientist in Machine Learning position at Netflix is between $390,000 and $900,000. This position will seek to strengthen the organization’s technological skills by delving deeply and probing research problems related to Netflix’s greatest difficulties.
The low pay structure that currently exists for writers and actors who produce streaming material is among the main grievances of WGA and SAG members. Without the conventional residual framework that provided most professional writers and actors with a means of support, companies can broadcast the content indefinitely.
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers must reassure WGA and SAG members that AI will not take the place of their jobs. Iris Liu, a SAG member and the strike’s leader, claims that the job posting simply serves to show how seriously Netflix still values profits above people.
Since the start of the strike, Liu has become accustomed to receiving big compensation from major firms and is not startled by the tech company’s investment in AI.
According to Liu, 87% of performers within the union do not even make the required $27,000 per year (before taxes and commissions) to be eligible for health insurance.
According to Liu, the salary listed in the job posting for a working actor is more than 33 times the minimum requirement for healthcare. We work a second and third job, have side businesses, and receive food stamps, she claimed. Remember that actors will qualify for health insurance after they earn $27,000 from acting engagements, but they will still be required to pay the entire cost out of cash.
In a call with investors last week to discuss quarterly earnings, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said the business had wanted to reach an agreement before the strikes ever started.
Sarandos stated, she grew up in a union family. They are very dedicated to reaching a decision as quickly as is practical. One that is fair and permits everyone involved in the sector to advance into the future.
In response to a question regarding concerns that Netflix may someday run out of content, especially in light of the strikes, Sarandos ducked the topic.
We produce a lot of content for TV, films, unscripted content, scripted content, local content, domestic content, English content, and non-English content. All of them are accurate, but that is irrelevant. The actual issue is that we need to end this strike so that everyone can move on, Sarandos responded.
Netflix isn’t the only company plunging deeply into AI. HBO is also spending a sizable sum of money on its machine learning initiatives. According to the job description, the yearly compensation range for a Senior Machine Learning Engineer position at HBO parent firm Warner Brothers is between $132,300.00 and $245,700.00.
Apple is a different tech juggernaut that the WGA targeted during its strike. Apple TV is especially vulnerable to the writer and actor strikes because it has one of the smallest catalogues of any streaming service. A Senior Software Engineer with machine learning expertise is presently being sought by Apple. That position’s base pay ranges from $138,900 to $256,500.
Liu supports the work of the SAG and WGA even though the producer’s union has not yet reached an agreement. She is very certain that they can obtain a fair agreement, and she is hoping that other studios, particularly those without financial support from the technology industry, would realize that it would be preferable for them to return to the negotiating table.
Regarding the job posting, KRON4 contacted Netflix; however, the corporation opted not to respond. The producer’s union responded with a statement, which Netflix shared:
The WGA Agreement as it stands already defines a “writer” to exclude any “corporate or impersonal purveyor” of literary works, so only a “person” can be regarded as a writer and benefit from the Basic Agreement’s terms and conditions. According to the AMPTP statement, AI-generated content, for instance, would not qualify for writing credit.
These safeguards, according to authors, are insufficient. Even though AI-generated content is not eligible for authorship credit under the agreement, streaming services nonetheless use AI to create fresh content.
