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SAG Lays Out What AI Protections It Will Seek In The Future
The strikes in 2023 set a good precedent when it came to AI. But as we near the 2026 negotiations with streamers, SAG-AFTRA is being proactive when it comes to laying out just what they want in terms of protection and how AI is handled in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was on a panel at the SeriesFest in Denver when he said AI would be a huge component in the upcoming talks. “I’d never prejudge it, because our members – we’re a member-driven organization – decide what our priorities are going to be. We didn’t get everything that I would have wanted [in 2023], or that they would have wanted in that negotiation. This is evolving over time. In the commercial contract deal we just got, we achieved, for the first time, a contractual limitation on the use of our members’ work for training AI systems. That’s not something we have been able to achieve in any prior contract until just now,” he said.Crabtree-Ireland calls for "consent and compensation" to lead the way. And it has been. Protections secured in the recently approved 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract mandate that advertisers or agencies must obtain SAG-AFTRA's consent prior to authorizing third-party use of commercial material for AI training. Crabtree-Ireland said, “We would have liked to have had that in the TV theatrical agreement. We weren’t able to achieve that despite being on strike for over four months. But I think now, as this industry evolves, as the use of the technology evolves, and as our contracts evolve, we may be able to make progress in areas where everyone was just too, frankly, scared to reach agreement before, and we really want to see that. There’s a lot to improve upon, even though those guardrails and guidelines have become so important, and I think have served our members very well, but we’re always in the mood of improving our contracts every time." When it comes to talking with streamers, SAG has been very happy with the cautious conversations they're both having. He said, “It’s been a much more cautious uptake than I had initially expected. I do think part of that is driven by the contractual limitations and rules that we’ve got. I think probably a big part of it is, during the strikes, it became really apparent that the public is also very concerned about what A.I. means, and I think these companies are thinking about what the ramifications are for their relationship with their consumers as part of rolling the stuff out and trying to avoid making missteps, which, frankly, I appreciate. Because I think if we work together on this rollout, it can be much better than it would have been in some sort of gold rush." This is all great news for people in SAG wanting both protections and to avoid another long strike. I do think a lot of this can be solved with good-faith conversations on both sides. And AI we've seen is not so good that it can really replace actors. But if you want to dub things in another language or need to scan someone for VFX, there should be money paid for image and likeness use. And protections in owning your own image and likeness after being scanned as well. Technology will always evolve and change. That's going to be a constant. Having these conversations early and finding common ground is what allows labor unions to seek fair pay for the people they represent, and studios to explain their sides, so everyone can see the middle ground. We'll keep you updated as this all evolves.
The strikes in 2023 set a good precedent when it came to AI. But as we near the 2026 negotiations with streamers, SAG-AFTRA is being proactive when it comes to laying out just what they want in terms of protection and how AI is handled in Hollywood.
SAG-AFTRA chief Duncan Crabtree-Ireland was on a panel at the SeriesFest in Denver when he said AI would be a huge component in the upcoming talks.
“I’d never prejudge it, because our members – we’re a member-driven organization – decide what our priorities are going to be. We didn’t get everything that I would have wanted [in 2023], or that they would have wanted in that negotiation. This is evolving over time. In the commercial contract deal we just got, we achieved, for the first time, a contractual limitation on the use of our members’ work for training AI systems. That’s not something we have been able to achieve in any prior contract until just now,” he said.
Crabtree-Ireland calls for "consent and compensation" to lead the way. And it has been. Protections secured in the recently approved 2025 SAG-AFTRA Commercials Contract mandate that advertisers or agencies must obtain SAG-AFTRA's consent prior to authorizing third-party use of commercial material for AI training.
Crabtree-Ireland said, “We would have liked to have had that in the TV theatrical agreement. We weren’t able to achieve that despite being on strike for over four months. But I think now, as this industry evolves, as the use of the technology evolves, and as our contracts evolve, we may be able to make progress in areas where everyone was just too, frankly, scared to reach agreement before, and we really want to see that. There’s a lot to improve upon, even though those guardrails and guidelines have become so important, and I think have served our members very well, but we’re always in the mood of improving our contracts every time."
When it comes to talking with streamers, SAG has been very happy with the cautious conversations they're both having.
He said, “It’s been a much more cautious uptake than I had initially expected. I do think part of that is driven by the contractual limitations and rules that we’ve got. I think probably a big part of it is, during the strikes, it became really apparent that the public is also very concerned about what A.I. means, and I think these companies are thinking about what the ramifications are for their relationship with their consumers as part of rolling the stuff out and trying to avoid making missteps, which, frankly, I appreciate. Because I think if we work together on this rollout, it can be much better than it would have been in some sort of gold rush."
This is all great news for people in SAG wanting both protections and to avoid another long strike. I do think a lot of this can be solved with good-faith conversations on both sides. And AI we've seen is not so good that it can really replace actors.
But if you want to dub things in another language or need to scan someone for VFX, there should be money paid for image and likeness use. And protections in owning your own image and likeness after being scanned as well.
Technology will always evolve and change. That's going to be a constant. Having these conversations early and finding common ground is what allows labor unions to seek fair pay for the people they represent, and studios to explain their sides, so everyone can see the middle ground.
We'll keep you updated as this all evolves.
