Submitted to The Argo by Jake Speidel

Wednesday, September 27, 2023, marked a historic win for screenwriters worldwide as the 148-day strike led by the WGA finally ended. For months now, the labor union known as The Writers Guild of America — representing around 11,500 screenwriters — has fought tirelessly for both fair wages and legal protections against the use of A.I.

Despite several failed negotiations, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP), an association that comprises Hollywood’s largest studios and production companies, finally agreed to the terms laid out by the union. Included in the agreement, which has been summarized in a public statement by the WGA, are increases in minimum wage and compensation, health and pension fund rates, the length of employment, and size of writing teams, as well as better overall residuals for writers. Furthermore, the agreement protects writers against the uses of A.I., or artificial intelligence, and provides the WGA the right to, “assert that the exploitation of writers’ material to train A.I. is prohibited by MBA or other law.” This comes with great relief to strikers, as many felt their jobs were at stake after industry titans like Disney and Paramount were looking to implement such technology. When asked about their thoughts on the deal, the WGA responded, “We can say, with great pride, that this deal is exceptional – with meaningful gains and protections for writers in every sector of the membership.”

It isn’t the end of the road, however, for the WGA and its affiliates. The tentative agreement with the AMPTP must now go through the guilds’ memberships, the WGAW Board, and the WGAE Council, for a ratification vote. Still, they are confident about the deal going through, which is crystallized through their lifting of the restraining order and ensuing strike imposed upon writers, which officially ended at 12:01 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday. Those eligible were able to vote from October 2 to October 9 and received ballot and ratification materials as the vote commenced. The terms of the agreement will extend from September 25, 2023, through May 1, 2026, until further discussion or renewal. As it stands, the leading labor union of actors, SAG-AFTRA, is still on strike and barred from working and promoting their various productions. The union joined alongside writers in July, advocating for similar protections within the industry, with VFX artists following their lead.

Let this be a precedent for both writers and creatives worldwide, who have time and time again been downtrodden by greedy executives looking to cut corners and further inflate their already-inflated salaries. As an aspiring screenwriter myself, we will not stand by as automation and generative A.I. strip away our jobs or the novelty of our creative process. While there is hope that someday a certain synergy and cooperation can be formed with technology, the risks presented before us are far too dire and jeopardize both the sanctity and underlying humanity of the writing process.

The irony of it all is how writers — for decades now — have warned us against the dangers of A.I. Whether it be 2001: A Space Odyssey, Blade Runner, or countless other works on the subject, the warning signs have long been present. Such films have generated billions of dollars in collective revenue, and now their predictions are finally becoming a reality. While it isn’t something to be feared, necessarily, it is something that shouldn’t be taken lightly, especially in regard to the workplace. In a world plagued by social and economic inequality, we must continue to find ways to protect ourselves and fight these injustices. Studios like Warner Bros. are estimated to lose between $300-500 million from the strikes collectively, when losses would’ve amounted to only $50 million if executives had agreed to their workers’ initial terms. The cancellation and deference of various productions has no doubt taken a major toll on the industry at large, and so despite this win for writers, it is still an ongoing battle…