Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike news 2 2

[CAHokie]

I thought it was obvious from the first read of the AI provisions but some actors have finely digested it.  All this did was guarantee that they get paid the day they scanned or upgraded if their AI version becomes more of a principle role.

There are no protections that prevent you from being let go if you refuse to allow a scan and nothing preventing it from being a condition before being hired. 

[media_junkie]

On 11/15/2023 at 9:55 PM, CAHokie said:

I thought it was obvious from the first read of the AI provisions but some actors have finely digested it.  All this did was guarantee that they get paid the day they scanned or upgraded if their AI version becomes more of a principle role.

There are no protections that prevent you from being let go if you refuse to allow a scan and nothing preventing it from being a condition before being hired. 

Great win there, SAG.  

[VintageComics]

On 11/15/2023 at 9:55 PM, CAHokie said:

I thought it was obvious from the first read of the AI provisions but some actors have finely digested it.  All this did was guarantee that they get paid the day they scanned or upgraded if their AI version becomes more of a principle role.

There are no protections that prevent you from being let go if you refuse to allow a scan and nothing preventing it from being a condition before being hired. 

That sounds just about right for Hollywood and the big machine. Wow. 

[chrisco37]

On 11/13/2023 at 6:38 AM, TupennyConan said:

Synthetic performers. 

Real dolls.

[VintageComics]

On 11/18/2023 at 11:13 AM, chrisco37 said:

On 11/13/2023 at 6:38 AM, TupennyConan said:

Synthetic performers. 

Real dolls.

Should we start a thread on which one is our favorite?

[chrisco37]

On 11/18/2023 at 11:27 AM, VintageComics said:

Should we start a thread on which one is our favorite?

[VintageComics]

On 11/18/2023 at 11:42 AM, chrisco37 said:

All this talk of AI, fake dolls, etc. 

Pretty soon everyone will look like this, the 'scientists'  will argue it's normal evolution and NOBODY will remember this thread except the people who didn't want reality to be taken away. 

Edited November 18, 2023 by VintageComics

[chrisco37]

On 11/18/2023 at 11:54 AM, VintageComics said:

All this talk of AI, fake dolls, etc. 

Pretty soon everyone will look like this, the 'scientists'  will argue it's normal evolution and NOBODY will remember this thread except the people who didn't want reality to be taken away. 

Like the movie Strange Days.  

[VintageComics]

On 11/18/2023 at 12:04 PM, chrisco37 said:

Like the movie Strange Days.  

I forgot about that one. Yeah, except we're well past that. 

If it was just video games and entertainment it would be one thing, but we're actually blending reality and the digital world in everyday life now. 

It's called "Biodigital Convergence" and for example, the Canadian government has pages dedicated to the topic on their Government website that have been been there for years now. I first saw it 2 years ago. I'd post a link but someone would call it politics even though it isn't.

Cue the usual, opposing opinions cutting in from the usual crowd, who I'm sure will arrive shortly spinning it's value in medicine and society, but ultimately it won't stop there. 

We're already seeing it in real life. The good things get abused and spun into corporate consumerism and it overtakes everything. 

Most people didn't realize what NFTs were or why they were so 'valuable' 3 years ago but it was just the earliest runup of people who were buying "properties" in the coming digital realm. Quite literally.

And yet if you tried to explain it to someone 5 years ago they'd think you were a crackpot of some sort pushing "conspiracy theory".

We used to call it science fiction, folks, before people became invested in the outcome. 

Well, pretty much every "theory" that people had real concerns about has become a true living conspiracy today, and so this AI discussion will be irrelevant and fall by the wayside in just a few short years to everyone except historians and those that never wanted it. 

There is quite literally a "Matrix" being built, slowly, in real time around everyone. 

And people are buying it up hook line and sinker. Some because they hate their own lives, some because they're naive to it happening and some because they WANT it to happen. 

And it's those that want it to happen, the "dis-agreeable people" who rule society (like the people who own movie studios) and push their ideas through on those that are "more agreeable" or have no clue. 

That's AI, why it's so important to everyone and where we're headed. The SAG strike is like a drop of dew in an ocean. 

 

Edited November 18, 2023 by VintageComics

[Bosco685]

 

[CAHokie]

 

High percentage of voters voted yes but a low turnout, most likely due to many eligible not being too active in the industry. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by CAHokie

[drotto]

On 12/6/2023 at 10:01 AM, CAHokie said:

 

Hi percentage of voters voted yes but a low turnout most likely due to many eligible not being too active in the industry. 

Or a sad commentary on the industry.  The rank and file either feel powerless, and despite the "win" they really do do get much out of it. Meaning in a gig oriented industry, lower level people still will not make a livable wage, no matter the changes. Or, like you said, the majority of the members are really not active anymore.  Yet another indication,  it is an industry that favors the lucky elites and most memebers have been pushed into other vacations.

 

Really not convinced this is the historic win that SAG has been claiming.

[VintageComics]

On 12/6/2023 at 1:40 PM, drotto said:

Meaning in a gig oriented industry, lower level people still will not make a livable wage, no matter the changes.

I worked in the automotive industry for 13 or 14 years or so, and during that time my wages climbed. I went from $18 an hour bit at one point toward the end I was making a solid 6 figures for a few years.

The, the industry felt they needed to cut costs, so guess what they cut? Our wages. 

No matter how much we screamed and yelled, and it was genuinely unfair, there was nothing we could do. 

For the next 8 or so years, we basically worked much harder for the same pay and eventually I left the industry entirely because I didn't want to argue with a big corporation for a fair wage. 

It sucks, but thankfully in the West here, there are options and sometimes it's better to move from a position of weakness while you can before you get pushed out. 

This is one of the reasons it's important to live within your means, because sometimes you don't know what tomorrow brings and your 'cushion' can quickly disappear. 

Edited December 6, 2023 by VintageComics

[VintageComics]

Different field, but the pain is the same. 

This article give a quick glimpse into what's coming and it's terrifying to me. 

Wow. 

 

[Cat]

On 11/19/2023 at 3:21 AM, VintageComics said:

I forgot about that one. Yeah, except we're well past that. 

If it was just video games and entertainment it would be one thing, but we're actually blending reality and the digital world in everyday life now. 

It's called "Biodigital Convergence" and for example, the Canadian government has pages dedicated to the topic on their Government website that have been been there for years now. I first saw it 2 years ago. I'd post a link but someone would call it politics even though it isn't.

Cue the usual, opposing opinions cutting in from the usual crowd, who I'm sure will arrive shortly spinning it's value in medicine and society, but ultimately it won't stop there. 

We're already seeing it in real life. The good things get abused and spun into corporate consumerism and it overtakes everything. 

Most people didn't realize what NFTs were or why they were so 'valuable' 3 years ago but it was just the earliest runup of people who were buying "properties" in the coming digital realm. Quite literally.

And yet if you tried to explain it to someone 5 years ago they'd think you were a crackpot of some sort pushing "conspiracy theory".

We used to call it science fiction, folks, before people became invested in the outcome. 

Well, pretty much every "theory" that people had real concerns about has become a true living conspiracy today, and so this AI discussion will be irrelevant and fall by the wayside in just a few short years to everyone except historians and those that never wanted it. 

There is quite literally a "Matrix" being built, slowly, in real time around everyone. 

And people are buying it up hook line and sinker. Some because they hate their own lives, some because they're naive to it happening and some because they WANT it to happen. 

And it's those that want it to happen, the "dis-agreeable people" who rule society (like the people who own movie studios) and push their ideas through on those that are "more agreeable" or have no clue. 

That's AI, why it's so important to everyone and where we're headed. The SAG strike is like a drop of dew in an ocean. 

 

Earliest examples of people buying digital goods were decades ago and players paying tens of thousands of dollars for weapons in MMO's, or to a lesser extent real estate in some of them. The record for years belonged to a guy who bought a sword in a Japanese MMO for over 11k US. This was back around 2006 or so. Then it was beaten by a guy buying world first dial glaives of Azeroth from a WOW account, only to get banned within 24 hours. Must have sucked to be him! So we do have far earlier examples than NFTs, precursors if you will. They may have been trendier for a while for a specific subset of people, but MMO's paved the way. 

[NoMan]

On 12/6/2023 at 10:40 AM, drotto said:

Or a sad commentary on the industry.  The rank and file either feel powerless, and despite the "win" they really do do get much out of it. Meaning in a gig oriented industry, lower level people still will not make a livable wage, no matter the changes. Or, like you said, the majority of the members are really not active anymore.  Yet another indication,  it is an industry that favors the lucky elites and most memebers have been pushed into other vacations.

 

Really not convinced this is the historic win that SAG has been claiming.

as a hollywood union member for over 25 years, this. also "it is an industry that favors the lucky elites"

 

BTW, it you are not active (up-to-date on dues) you are ineligible to vote

Edited December 7, 2023 by NoMan

[Bosco685]

On 12/7/2023 at 1:32 AM, Cat said:

Earliest examples of people buying digital goods were decades ago and players paying tens of thousands of dollars for weapons in MMO's, or to a lesser extent real estate in some of them. The record for years belonged to a guy who bought a sword in a Japanese MMO for over 11k US. This was back around 2006 or so. Then it was beaten by a guy buying world first dial glaives of Azeroth from a WOW account, only to get banned within 24 hours. Must have sucked to be him! So we do have far earlier examples than NFTs, precursors if you will. They may have been trendier for a while for a specific subset of people, but MMO's paved the way. 

I remember being in a Microsoft Worldwide Operations meeting in 2007 when I was working for a financial services company. Their pitch to us was MS was going to allow game points to be converted to game upgrade purchases, along with creating a payments ecosystem whereby their customers could use their points to purchase other digital and hard goods from sites like Amazon or Buy.com (do they even still exist?) or even movie rentals and more.

So cryptocurrency and digital products long before it became the norm. And MS had set aside $2B to get this 'experiment' up and running. So they were very serious about making this a reality.