Hollywood actors’ strike, canaries in the mine?

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https://abcnews.go.com/amp/Business/act ... =101280261

Maybe a little like us on the Spectrum!

People in Hollywood might be the canaries in the mine as far as job loss due to automation. I’ve read that U.S. manufacturing job loss is 1/3 due to competition from abroad but 2/3’s due to automation.

So, for actors, AI may be automation job loss writ large. For every actor who’s super rich, there are probably 100 who are more regular-paid or just getting by. I even saw an article title including the quote: “We are all background actors.”

On the upside, there will be no more stalking because the actors aren't likely to be real people.

I'm sure this is concerning to them, perhaps this reality check will give them better insight into the challenges faced by the average John Q. Public. It's easy to have contempt for people who possess different views when you're so rich that you will never come in contact with the subject of your own convictions.

This is the classic video , ironically from about 10 years ago!

He’s saying automation is inevitable and in many areas is already happening. It’s all about bending the path.

Putting *popcorn* in the microwave.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads ... e-decades/



So, the American middle class has shrunk less than people think. Plus, look at the bar graph, more people have moved upward than downward. So, on balance a good thing?

I don’t think so. It’s still a thinning of the middle class. And this thinning is bad for mental health, bad for social stability, bad for positive thoughts of the future, etc, etc.

This would be an occupational hazard for pretty much any rich person, wouldn’t you think?

To prevent this, I’m guessing it helps to keep busy, including volunteer work . . [ . . and yes, this last part can end up becoming ironic ! ! ]

I heard shows that just started production are about to shut down and it sounds like everything will be on hold until October. Film industry will have been dead for a full year or so by then.

Some ex CEO of some film media company says top execs and top paid actors should all take a 25% pay cut in order to lessen the gap between the top paid and everyone else. It's a possible solution to the money problem. In his interview he figures AI is overblown and that writers won't be replaced but rather assisted by it. Who knows. That guy figures the industry needs to come to agreements by September 1st before people start cancelling streaming subscriptions and then there's no $$$ to even talk about how to divvy up. Oh yeah, that's another big one for the writers.. residuals from popular streams like they used to get residuals for DVD sales. When shows have huge success and Billions of views, people subscribe to streaming services just to watch them.. but the writers and actors don't get another penny for their success anymore because there are no physical DVD sales, just streams. They want $x/y streams - which makes sense.. especially since Netflix is making Billions of dollars in profit.

I read that there's some language in one of the contract proposals that basically gives the studios full rights to images/videos of actors to then AI into movies.. so, for no extra pay, people are supposed to let their images be used. Actors/background actors aren't pleased with this.

Actors Could Be the first of many to fight against AI in labour contracts. Makes sense - people need jobs in the economic system we live in.. it'd be different if we let machines do the work so people could be free, but thanks to the greed of those at the top, if machines do the work people will be homeless and starve.

As I bet we’ve both heard, a classic economist will say the money saved kicks back through the system. That’s how we’ve moved from a system in which almost all of us have to work at producing food to a system in which hardly any of us work in direct food production. Machines have helped us do much more as a society.

The problem is . . .



the quasi-monopolies.

From this 2021, that’s what economist Jan Eeckhout is arguing, that quasi-monopolies tend to go in the direction of under-producing, so that new automation does not produce enough new jobs.

And he’s all in favor of anti-trust enforcement, which has easy majority support among the general public. In fact, I’d argue that anti-monopoly is as American as apple pie, really!

As an editor I've already lost clients to AI programmes- the ones who write blogs, newsletters, course syllabi etc. I hope that AI never learns to edit fictional novels, or I'm toast.

Should I feel sorry for members of an allegedly creative industry that has not produced anything original in decades?

Hyperbole much?

There are original movies out all the time. They might not be something you want to watch, but they exist.

when i saw the new starwars i felt cringe at the Ai replacement actors, disrespectful to the dead

i doubt hollywood cgi will ever escape uncanney valley

Yeah, sometimes.There you have illuminated part of the problem.  The rehashed remakes and the sequels seem to get most of the attention and financing from the Hollywood big-wigs, while the few original productions seem to get whatever scraps fall from the table.

The original indie productions cannot afford the best writers, actors, and special effects; but they are like fireflies during a fireworks show -- you can see them if you are patient and know where to look, but they rarely (if ever) light up the skies OR the award shows.

All true.

Big money in selling more of the same to the same crowd.. so, out comes Fast X and another Star Wars movie etc.

There are some decent originals on Netflix and probably other streaming services. But also a LOT of stuff I scroll past and have less than zero interest in watching ever.. maybe just not for me, but maybe simply made to pump up turn numbers of available titles to watch for total tv junkies to have some new content to consume.

I’d way rather watch only top rated shows vs mediocre or sub par waste of time stuff.

Indeed . . . Extraordinary Attorney Woo, All Of Us Are Dead, Juvenile Justice, Twenty-Five Twenty-One, Business Proposal, Narcos-Saints, Thirty-Nine, The Sound of Magic, Once Upon A Small Town, Our Blues, Man 2 Man, Crash Landing on You, Hospital Playlist, Itaewon Class, Kingdom, Mr. Sunshine, Signal, SKY Castle, Squid Game, Vincenzo, When the Camellia Blooms, Ghost Doctor, Reply 1988, Law School, Her Private Life, It’s Okay to Not Be Okay, Under the Queen's Umbrella, Move to Heaven, My Name, Hometown Cha-Cha-Cha, Flower of Evil, One Spring Night, et cetera . . .

That is not quite true. You can still buy DVDs and Blu-ray’s of movies in both physical stores and online. Many people are starting to drop streaming services because it costs monthly fees for things that you do not actually own. If the internet connection goes out, there goes the streaming movie/program. By owning a physical DVD of something, you can enjoy it over and over for the cost of electricity to power your player and tv.

That is why I have over 1000 DVDs/blue rays of various movies/shows in my collection. Most were bought second hand for a few dollars each and are original releases, not bootleg copies. I have bought newer movies for as cheap as fifty cents each at thrift stores and garage sales. There is a growing market for physical copies of movies due to inflation. Every time a streaming service increase their fees, they push more people toward buying DVDs.