In the state of New York, two bills have been introduced to safeguard creative workers in the film and television industry as the ongoing strikes by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) and the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) continue to cause delays in film and television production, lawmakers at both the state and federal levels are taking steps to protect performers from potential job losses due to the use of artificial intelligence (AI).
New York Senate Bill S7422, sponsored by Senator Lea Webb, and Assembly Bill A7634, sponsored by Assembly member Demond Meeks, seek to prohibit production companies seeking the Empire State Film Production Credit from replacing human performers with AI. The legislation emphasizes the need to protect the workforce in the entertainment sector, asserting that investment in the tax credit program should be tied to supporting real people employed in the industry.
The impact of AI on jobs has already been felt, with Chicago-based outplacement firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas reporting that nearly 4,000 jobs were lost in May 2023 alone due to AI implementation. Recognizing the potential implications of this trend, federal lawmakers are also taking action to address the issue.
New York bill
House of Representatives Bill H.R. 6553, known as the AI Jobs Act of 2022 and sponsored by Representative Darren Soto from Florida, aims to foster innovation while prioritizing worker training and retention in the age of AI. The bill tasks the Secretary of Labor with conducting research and submitting a report on AI’s impact on the American workforce, along with recommendations to minimize human displacement caused by AI technologies.
Further enhancing worker protection, US Senators Bob Casey and Brian Schatz introduced two bills last month: The No Robot Bosses Act and the Exploitative Workplace Surveillance and Technologies Task Force Act. The No Robot Bosses Act aims to limit the use of automated systems for making employment decisions and mandates the presence of human oversight. Meanwhile, the Exploitative Workplace Surveillance and Technologies bill establishes a government task force to examine the effects of workplace surveillance and automated systems on employees.
These bills have received support from prominent New York Senators, including John Fetterman, Bernie Sanders, and Cory Booker, underscoring the importance of addressing the challenges posed by AI in the workforce.
As technology continues to advance, concerns about job displacement and worker protection have become more pronounced. AI, in particular, has the potential to disrupt various industries, including entertainment, leading to anxiety among creative workers about the possibility of their jobs being replaced by AI-generated characters or performances.
While AI can undoubtedly enhance certain aspects of the film and television industry, the legislation being drafted at both state and federal levels aims to strike a delicate balance between innovation and safeguarding the livelihoods of workers. New York bill’s goal is not to stifle technological progress but rather to ensure that the human workforce remains an integral part of the industry’s evolution.
