Exclusive SAG-AFTRA AI Details—on Puck
Read my analysis on Puck of guardrails, tradeoffs and achievements in the new union deal.
I’ve got exclusive details on the new SAG-AFTRA deal’s AI provisions—I’ve read the previously unreleased summary (it’s just released now) and the AI portions of the unreleased Memorandum of Agreement (the actual contract language). The summary alone is 18 pages and the MOA is about 128 pp., of which 16 pp. address AI (the DGA deal had only one page on AI and the WGA 2-½).
What I can tell you here is that the union achieved unusual AI guardrails: restrictions, compensation, consent, residuals, and even certain protections regarding AI uses that don’t involve employment, which is usually the touchstone for union jurisidction. SAG-AFTRA’s deal looks like the best possible (especially under the circumstances) and is extremely nuanced and detailed. It doesn’t prohibit use of the new technology, but was that ever feasible?
For more, you’ll want to subscribe to Puck and read my article at https://puck.news/what-the-actors-really-won-on-a-i/.