Hollywood background actors fear AI could rob them of work

Artificial Intelligence is now posing a threat to the livelihoods of actors in Hollywood too, especially the extras. Prince Royal, an actor in Los Angeles, who was working as an extra on The Flash, reveals he was duped as makers took a 3-D scan of him and will be using it for future work without really paying him for future projects.

Studios ask background actors to get scans -- union fears that AI could replace them and rob them of work

With hundreds of cameras panned towards him and others like him, Prince said, “We were told if we didn’t do it, we’d be sent home without pay. We don’t know what all our scans are being used for. They could possibly use our scans in other movies and other shows.”

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This is one of the major reasons among a list of others that the SAG-AFTRA are striking. Actors now fear that AI could rob them of their livelihood and future work. Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the union’s chief negotiator, said that studios want to scan background actors and then use artificial intelligence to place those actors in other projects “for the rest of eternity” without consent. Meanwhile, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers says that’s not true.

AI could soon replace actors and the Hollywood strike voices these concerns. If this continues, background actors could be the first to be thrown out of work. “If they have my image, and they can manipulate it any way they want, why do they need to hire me again?” asked Rick Markman, a background actor who said he has always refused requests for scanning.

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