SAG-AFTRA Strike Highlights AI Threats to Background Actors
Background actors voice growing concerns over artificial intelligence during the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. Performers report facing pressured 3-D scanning sessions on set that raise serious questions about digital replication.
SAG-AFTRA strike negotiations highlight mounting fears among background actors regarding the use of artificial intelligence in film and television. Performers express deep concern that studios plan to use AI to scan extras, create digital replicas, and reuse those images indefinitely without fair compensation or consent.
One background actor shares a revealing experience while working on "The Flash," where he faces pressure to enter a trailer equipped with hundreds of cameras for a 3-D body scan. Crew members inform him the scan is for continuity and special effects, but threaten to send him home without pay if he refuses to participate in the procedure.
This incident underscores exactly why union members fight for strict AI regulations in their contracts. Background actors demand clear limits on how studios capture, store, and use their digital likenesses to prevent permanent replacement by computer-generated counterparts.