Bouciegues said he has had some performers with whom he has worked express concerns about being scanned for projects but noted that it's been a relatively common practice for some time in the entertainment industry. "These particular scans are by no means suspicious," Bouciegues said. "They've been around since the early 2000s. And almost every movie with heavy VFX or whatever, every performer is scanned." WATCH: ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER'S STUNT COORDINATOR EXPLAINS WHY HE WANTS A FAIR CONTRACT IN STRIKE NEGOTIATIONS "What I think that the fear is is that AI is going to improve on [and] going to make more efficient the pipelines that are in place already," he continued, citing the example of creating a large digital army through AI versus hiring dozens or hundreds of performers.

"Jump the fuck up!" Tom Morello, the guitarist for Rage Against the Machine, instructed the crowd outside the gates of Paramount. Morello, who wore his signature red bandana around his neck, was strumming "This Land Is Your Land," to rev up the morning's picketers. Everyone raised a fist and jumped the fuck up, singing, "This land was made for you and me!" The Writers Guild of America was on day one hundred and three of its strike against the Hollywood studios, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (A.M.P.T.P.); the actors of SAG-AFTRA were on day thirty. The August sun was blazing, and the experienced strikers wore hats; others found shade under signs that read "ON STRIKE!" or "CUT OUT THE CRAP AMPTP!" It was "Bruce Springsteen Day" on the Paramount line, and several people had come in "Born in the U.S.A." garb. A guy in a headband and tight jeans marched along Melrose Avenue. "I'm here so often I plan my outfits," he said to a companion.

Actress Sandra Miska, a member of SAG-AFTRA, explains what it was like having her likeness scanned for AI and if she would agree to it again. The Writers Guild of America, which has been on strike for over three months, is meeting with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) on Friday to potentially discuss next steps. Meanwhile, SAG-AFTRA, the actors' union that joined the WGA on strike last month, still hasn't seen any movement towards resuming talks with the AMPTP. One of the major sticking points: the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) to replace background actors with digital copies. Some background actors have already been scanned by productions but remain unaware if or how their likeness is being used, causing concern about their future career prospects.

In The Matrix, Neo (Keanu Reeves) wanders through crowded city streets, bumping past sailors and women in red dresses, before learning that they aren't real people, but instead simulations. In future Keanu Reeves movies, it's possible that everyone around him might be simulated, too. On July 13, Hollywood producers advertised a "groundbreaking AI proposal" involving the "use of digital replicas or…digital alterations of a performance." The SAG-AFTRA union lambasted the proposal, accusing the studios of simply trying to replace background actors with AI. Studios could scan an actor, pay them for a day, and then simply use AI to insert them into the rest of the film, Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, SAG-AFTRA's chief negotiator, said in a press conference. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers responded that this characterization was inaccurate and that they would "establish a comprehensive set of provisions that require informed consent and fair compensation when a'digital replica'" or similar AI technology is used.

To get her start in Hollywood, Chivonne Michelle studied acting at New York University. But what helped her break into the industry and gave her the key training she needed was working on set as a background actor. Today, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) technology threatens to put those "entry level and working class" Hollywood jobs at risk, Michelle and other striking actors say. AI is threatening jobs across many sectors, from doctors and lawyers to data scientists and journalists. But Hollywood actors and writers, currently united in their first "double strike" in more than 60 years, are fighting back in an unprecedented way, vowing to protect every worker in their industry, from the extras to the stars, from being replaced by new technologies.

For the first time in 63 years, writers and actors are on strike, grinding Hollywood to a halt with a historic double strike. You've probably recognized some of the celebrities at the picket line. These actors, similar to writers on strike, are demanding increased pay and protections from artificial intelligence. But the vast majority of striking members are far from household names, actors who are all but certain to survive the major economic consequences of both strikes as they drag on for weeks or even months. Instead, they're working-class individuals forced to live "paycheck to paycheck," according to SAG LA's Vice President Michelle Hurd--and they want the world to know a few facts.

The idea that studios want actors to relinquish their digital doubles forever in exchange for a few tanks of gas (and that's before taxes!) was just too deliciously infuriating not to retweet or Thread. The scenario transformed the studios into creative labor–devouring supervillains. Even if you hadn't previously cared much about the looming strike, suddenly you were angry--the studios wanted to get away with replacing human actors for free. And who knew how they'd use those digital doubles! If you've watched the recent episode of Black Mirror in which a streaming site rationalizes all kinds of twisted uses of Salma Hayek's digital double based on a legal agreement, it's not hard to imagine the whole thing truly going off the rails.