And the Oscar Goes to, ChatGPT? Don't Bet on It, Writers Guild of America Says

pcmag.com:

Don't expect a computer to accept the Best Screenplay Academy Award any time soon.

The Writers Guild of America (WGA) this week clarified its stance on works created with the help of artificial intelligence like ChatGPT. It came after Variety(Opens in a new window) reported that the WGA—currently in contract negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP)— is open to allowing AI "to write scripts, as long as it does not affect writers’ credits or residuals."

In a Twitter thread(Opens in a new window), the WGA says its proposal instead seeks to regulate the use of AI to ensure "companies can't use AI to undermine writers' working standards including compensation, residuals, separated rights and credits." But its use would not be banned outright.

"In the same way that a studio may point to a Wikipedia article, or other research material, and ask the writer to refer to it, they can make the writer aware of AI-generated content," the WGA says. "But, like all research material, it has no role in Guild-covered work, nor in the chain of title in the intellectual property.

As AI-generated content is created from copyright-protected and public domain material, the software "cannot distinguish between the two," according to the WGA, which calls plagiarism "a feature of the AI process." Artificial intelligence, therefore, can neither be used as source material or to create or rewrite work; and it won't appear in a movie or TV show's credits.

"It is important to note that AI software does not create anything," the WGA says. "It generates a regurgitation of what it's fed."

In 2017, ahead of an impending (though ultimately avoided) writer's strike, short film director Oscar Sharp and AI researcher