In bad faith? Netflix lists $900,000 AI job as Hollywood strikes against AI and low wages
%2Favatars%2FEwuSxftyWaVt.png&w=96&q=75)
%2F2023%2F07%2F26%2Fimage%2Fjpeg%2F3xRHLZwmYAfX9STEeC7WEYjKXmN3TPgUWRmt8h14.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
In a move that screams ‘bad optics,’ Netflix put out a job listing to hire a Product Manager for their Machine Learning Platform as the actors and writers strike enters its second month.
The job is offering a pay of $300,000 - $900,000, which has riled up Hollywood’s biggest actors union SAG-AFTRA — which represents approximately 160,000 film and television actors — given that 87 percent of its member actors earn below $26,000 annually.
No headway after rounds of negotiations
The actors union joined the writers, who have been on strike since May, for the first time in over 60 years. Both unions are demanding better pay and strict regulations on the use of artificial intelligence.
Needless to say, this isn’t going down well for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) — the entity that represents major studios and streamers, including Amazon, Apple, Disney, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount, Sony, and Warner Bros Discovery — who have been holding negotiations, albeit unsuccessful ones, with the writers and actors unions.
Hue and cry over AI intervention
This also comes after AMPTP’s ‘groundbreaking AI proposal’ which would protect "performers’ digital likenesses, including a requirement for performer’s consent for the creation and use of digital replicas or digital alterations of a performance".
To many, the AI proposal reminded of the Black Mirror episode ‘Joan is Awful,’ which revolves around a streaming service similar to Netflix stealing a woman’s identity and life, through her implicit consent, to create a show.
AMPTP’s AI proposal is being viewed as a technology that gives the license to create without the presence of creators, to which SAG-AFTRA’s chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said, “If you think that’s a groundbreaking proposal, I suggest you think again.”
Rob Delaney, who had a lead role in the “Black Mirror” episode, told The Intercept, “So $900k/yr per soldier in their godless AI army when that amount of earnings could qualify thirty-five actors and their families for SAG-AFTRA health insurance is just ghoulish. Having been poor and rich in this business, I can assure you there’s enough money to go around; it’s just about priorities.”
Netflix and AI
Netflix is using its Machine Learning Platform to tap into the preferences and viewing habits of its over 200 million paid subscribers worldwide. It uses AI to provide users with personalized suggestions after analyzing their watch history, and also examining thousands of video frames to zero in on the most clickable thumbnails.
Netflix is, clearly, not shying away from investing in AI. Interesting Engineering reported that the streaming service developed an AI-powered green screen, which they are calling the Magenta Green Screen. It records the color image of the actor in front of the green screen without requiring any special camera or manual keying techniques.
SHOW COMMENT (1)
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/h5yecZdSVOV1OXdxX0EaMs2zqAVRAIy482c6wcIv.jpg "F-22 became \"The Super Raptor\" with these upgrades")
/2023/09/11/image/jpeg/FyjoRiLdd9sOj0dytR3WjS3yDS1ON5OKg7bkfRUv.jpg "Life by 2100: nanotech, cybernetics, and commercial space travel")
/2023/09/22/image/jpeg/N09BSEVNiNkMLnA50kD8o3yiMP8ye1mAEFwtWa4G.jpg "Is carbon capture the missing piece in the net zero puzzle?")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/o1ISqqYPH0bQDgxiqgQR8gY3L2BUb4MH1Aw7lUws.jpg "Morphing robots: CSU's breakthrough in biomimicry technology")
/2023/09/20/image/jpeg/GbCK0hde2nR9kSs3cEVNjZTZ0DVOtgyTUVCQA5bs.jpg "Life by 2100: Space settlements, education, and the future of warfare")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/mxK2HCx3zNJKKQBocAvIQTYC7a5xxRYsau3xRRg6.jpg "FDA-approved drug, Amiloride reverses symptoms of ELAs")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/9Ltqo1XEAxjLPoQuIicK7Co1EkscVEKiprlS5L9Z.jpg "New 3D printing approach offers hope for brain injury repair")
/2023/09/04/image/jpeg/UEuPO8vP8YA3PICuhwuvmebK4Pl9Cm1cShTAqGB2.jpg "Chinese researchers create dancing microrobots using lasers")
/2023/10/04/image/jpeg/FKtZpRmTjAaKYdYeby4NfmIIlm80bmW7GCgAIZ9K.jpg "Bioprinted skin heals severe wounds in pigs, humans are next")
/2023/09/12/image/jpeg/E1LfUWjqRrg0bFqBnRzB7XzmfJAd6YPNclMl5I9n.jpg "How AI can revolutionize health on long-duration spaceflights")