But the other extreme of saying no AI ever is also untenable. If SAG-AFTRA get that demand, it then means productions like Rogue One (AI Leia and Moff Tarkin), The Mandalorian (AI Luke), and de-aged Professor Xavier and Magnito in the X-Men are not possible.
It also prevents an aspiring writer from using AI tools to help with the writing process -- not do it all for them, but work co-operatively like copilot and other auto-complete tools do for programming.
Even using tools like Photoshop, Blender, Unreal Engine (as used in shows like The Mandalorian) could be dicey as they incorporate AI models and techniques. -- Would things like NVidia's AI upscaling tech count for raytraced CGI? (I ask as it looks like SAG-AFTRA are after a blanket AI ban, not just around actor voice/image or writer text.)
Another thing that the production companies could do is to use public domain audio, video, and scripts as SAG-AFTRA cannot ban the use if AI on those.
The union is just saying that if you want the rights to use an actor's likeness without actually employing the actor to act, you have to pay separately for that, and pay what it's worth.
Which makes perfect sense. In your example of a de-aged Luke Hammill in the Mandalorian, Luke Hammill was paid $$$ for that. They didn't get to cast him for free just because he was in previous Star Wars movies. Nor should they.
That's all this is about. Go ahead and use AI, but pay the actors for their likeness. Don't force them to give it away for free as a condition of doing a single episode.
That’s just insane though. People don’t care about continuity in background actors or what they look like. Many background actors will be reused in different contexts as different people.
If studios can apply their likeness to a cheaper actor, they can also apply a made up likeness to a cheaper actor. Or the likeness of a model. Or the likeness of a volunteer who thinks it’d be cool.
The only case where this applies, maybe, is for characters with speaking roles that have enough positive reception that they have negotiating power for their cost to return for future works. But that’s a tiny segment far removed from the majority of this guild. And if it’s actually sensible to do this over hiring the actor then they could probably just do this from the beginning.
This isn't primarily about background actors (who usually aren't even members of SAG-AFTRA to begin with, because they usually don't even have acting training/experience or anything).
This is primarily about working actors with lines but who aren't big stars able to negotiate their contracts -- we're talking non-lead series regulars, guest stars, recurring guest stars, and the like. Because most actors are working for union minimums unless they're a series lead.
In other words, the actors who make up 95% of the union.
It also prevents an aspiring writer from using AI tools to help with the writing process -- not do it all for them, but work co-operatively like copilot and other auto-complete tools do for programming.
Even using tools like Photoshop, Blender, Unreal Engine (as used in shows like The Mandalorian) could be dicey as they incorporate AI models and techniques. -- Would things like NVidia's AI upscaling tech count for raytraced CGI? (I ask as it looks like SAG-AFTRA are after a blanket AI ban, not just around actor voice/image or writer text.)
Another thing that the production companies could do is to use public domain audio, video, and scripts as SAG-AFTRA cannot ban the use if AI on those.