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John August, a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) negotiating committee, has revealed his involvement with an artificial intelligence (AI) writing tool, which has caused some backlash among WGA members as the union seeks to regulate the technology in its current negotiations. The AI tool, Sudowrite, uses OpenAI’s GPT-3 to generate early drafts, perform revisions, and provide synonyms and word suggestions for writers. August, a screenwriter for films such as Big Fish and Aladdin, claims to have made a small investment in Amit Gupta’s company, the founder of Sudowrite, more than a year ago, before the emergence of ChatGPT. August explains in a recent blog post that Sudowrite was then focused only on prose fiction and that he and his company discussed how actual writers could use this technology. August’s books and scripts have not been used to train the technology, and neither he nor his company has ever made any money from their investment in Sudowrite nor incorporated any of their products into their apps.
Regulating AI is among the WGA’s negotiation priorities in 2023. The union seeks to ensure that AI-generated content cannot be used as source material for adaptation and cannot write or rewrite “literary material” under the WGA contract. The guild also aims to prohibit projects covered under the union’s contract from being used to train AI. August is one of the guild’s most outspoken leaders on the regulation of AI in scriptwriting, stating that the technology should be used as a tool by writers, not to replace them.
August’s disclosure of investment in Sudowrite has sparked some backlash from WGA members. Some have raised concerns about conflicts of interest and questioned August’s motives for endorsing Sudowrite while fighting to protect writing jobs from AI. August counters that it was his early exposure to Sudowrite that alerted the guild to the potential pitfalls of generative AI for writers. Before ChatGPT debuted in November 2022, August had communicated with the WGA about the burgeoning technology and served on a board committee to study the issue.
In conclusion, as the WGA seeks to regulate AI in negotiations with studios and streamers, August’s involvement with Sudowrite has come under scrutiny from some WGA members. However, August maintains that the exposure to the AI tool has been beneficial in addressing the real, live concerns about AI in the current negotiating cycle.
FAQ:
What is Sudowrite?
Sudowrite is an artificial intelligence writing tool that uses OpenAI’s GPT-3 to generate early drafts, perform revisions, and provide synonyms and word suggestions for writers.
What is the WGA’s stance on AI technology?
The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is seeking to regulate the use of AI technology in negotiations with studios and streamers. The union seeks to prevent AI-generated content from being used as source material for adaptation and to prohibit AI from writing or rewriting “literary material” under the WGA contract. The guild is also pushing to prohibit projects covered under its contract from being used to train AI.
What is John August’s involvement with Sudowrite?
John August, a member of WGA’s negotiating committee, invested in Sudowrite, which has caused some backlash among WGA members. August maintains that his exposure to the AI tool has been beneficial in addressing the real, live concerns about AI in the current negotiating cycle.
What is the concern with AI in scriptwriting?
The concern is that AI technologies may be used to replace writers instead of being used as tools by writers, threatening writer jobs.
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