Ethical A.I. and Media Storytelling

HOW THE WRITERS' STRIKE RESULTS SHAPE THE MEDIA

As a writer-director and social entrepreneur, the most repeated question I got over the past few months was this: Can A.I. generate scripts, and can businesses leverage this to streamline media production?

The short answer some businesses hoping for shortcuts might not want to hear but have to is: No. But the reasons might surprise you.

An A.I. that is trained on a database is automatically backwards-looking.

I suggest that exactly this NO is the much-needed basis for an opportunity for business growth through ethical A.I. and social innovation media strategy. And it is no other than the outcome of the WGA writers' strike 2023 that establishes useful insights and guidelines for businesses, within the media industry, or simply using media for their marketing.

But before I lay out that thought in this article in which I more or less manage to downplay how extremely glad I am that guilds have stood up for this and for all of us writers AND business persons (hey, I'm both), let me tell you a story...

Once, there was a specific problem...

...in a huge chemical plant. A friend of mine works as a project manager there. He told me that suddenly, an issue in the processing pipeline arose that was about to impact the entire operation system, including cooling, deliverables, and supply chain. The experts of the chemical plant worked tirelessly until they could pinpoint one specific part of one specific machine within one specific operation area.

The company called in an expert. The plant was impacted. Teams couldn't function. Everyone could name the problem but had to await a fix.

Then the expert came.

Inside the specific operation area, inside the specific machine, related to the specific problem, among hundreds and thousands of pumps, levers and buttons, the expert flicked a switch – the right switch.

The plant hummed back into operation.

The only person who was able to repair the system just performed one action, but that action was informed by knowledge, skill, and human experience to see and interpret interconnected events in conjunction with the social layer of the team's operation practice, and specialisation.

And this is what the company paid for.

This is what storytellers do when we emotionally engage audiences with universal themes, applied with utmost specificity.

The WGA Strike Response and Media Strategy

That A.I. is only as good as the humans who use it has many reasons, from artistry to legalese paper trails. So let's look at what I consider the most indicative guideline on the topic, the outcome of the WGA 2023 Writers' Strike. The outcome of the strike has resulted in new guidelines for the film industry which I believe will impact and guide the media landscape as a whole. (Disclaimer: I'm not a WGA representative. For related information, please visit https://www.wga.org/ .)

These are the points shared by the WGA, quoted from the Summary of the 2023 WGA MBA:

• AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.?
• A writer can choose to use AI when performing writing services, if the company consents and provided that the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services.?
• The Company must disclose to the writer if any materials given to the writer have been generated by AI or incorporate AI-generated material.
• The WGA reserves the right to assert that exploitation of writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by MBA or other law.

A.I. Is Just A Tool –?It is Neither a Creative, nor an IP Protector

The agreement means an official recognition not just of the role of the storyteller as a craftsperson required in the process and dignified by the economy, but it also means that a focus has been put on the needs of businesses.

So how is this good news for everyone's business media strategy?

I guess we all want quality media content. And that comes with emotional engagement. A.I. is a tool that has to be used correctly in order to benefit.

Instead of arguing over saving costs on craftspeople, the new writers' agreement highlights the opportunity to embrace new technology as a tool, conducted – just as it were – by people who are highly qualified, specialised, and with corporate media ethics. Then, new tech solutions can be made available more democratically, while people remain sustained and new jobs may emerge safely. It takes a society to make a society function, made up of individuals who stand shoulder to shoulder. I would go as far as to suggest this may not just be about corporate responsibility, but about general common economic sense for anyone who tries to sustain a business, its customers, and its employees.

What Business Risks Has the WGA Agreement Prevented?

The key points of rescue are this, in my view:

• Society: Businesses are (should be, really!) for people, by people. We don't live in the MATRIX. (Would you want to?)
• Legal issues: It only takes 1 single employee to leak a copyrighted document into a database it doesn't belong to, and the A.I. could get trained on illegal material, jeopardising your entire business policy.
• Most importantly, ironically, businesses have just been saved from losing money through loss of audience engagement: The reason successful media content is successful is not because of a formula, but because the storyteller has used craft and artistry alongside their specific, unique, once-on-this-planet life experience to relate to a matter of common humanity in the specific context of the media project.

A.I. is Backwards-Looking – But We Need the Future

An A.I. that is trained on a database is automatically backwards-looking. Machine learning is not, and never will be the same as a response to Zeitgeist or the innovation of a generation within its community context. A brush only paints as 'good' a picture as the painter uses it for. To reduce storytelling and media content to a formula would result in less engagement due to a lack of relevance – the opposite of the desired effect.

I propose that re-contextualising new technology in the context of society and basic human needs and rights is the only way businesses can be sustainable and support future-positivity of us and the next generations. Businesses should serve society.

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Disclaimer: This is an independent opinion piece.