
Disney Fights NY Bill That Would Cut Tax Breaks for Replacing Humans With AI
Should we ban AI from the film industry?
What's the story?
- NBCUniversal and the Walt Disney Company are paying lobbyists to keep an eye on new legislation that would stop them from getting a tax break on AI used to replace actors.
- Soon after the New York bill, S.B. 7422, was introduced in June, lobbyists started monitoring its movement, according to disclosures filed with the state Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.
- The use of AI in media is a leading cause of the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Writers Guild of America (WGA), as both writers and actors are voicing concerns about being replaced or replicated, without their consent, by AI.
- Since the beginning of 2020, NBCUniversal has received nearly $100 million in tax credits for 14 major New York productions, including Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon and Saturday Night Live. Disney received almost $11 million for multiple projects.
The Bill
New York State Senate Bill S7422
Bill Details
- Sponsor: Sen. Lea Webb (D-N.Y.)
- Current Committee: Senate Investigations And Government Operations
- Law Section: Tax Law
Bill Overview
- The bill would amend the tax law to prohibit applicants of the Empire State Film Production tax credit from using artificial intelligence that would displace any natural person in their productions.
What's in the Bill?
Prohibits applicants from using AI in place of natural persons
- The bill would cover any form of media, including text, images, video, or sound. It would apply to anything created fully or partially by AI.
- The bill dubs this "synthetic media" and bans it from any production using the tax credit.
Protects performers and creators
- The Chicago-based firm Challenger, Gray, & Christmas reported that nearly 4,000 jobs were lost due to AI in May 2023 alone.
- The future of AI and job security in the film industry have been central to ongoing, contentious Hollywood negotiations and strikes this year. The WGA members have been on strike for over three months in light of debates on the use of AI in film and television production.
Arguments for
- Gloria Bigalow, a screenwriter and member of WGA and SAG-AFTRA, spoke about the fear of AI replacing workers in the film industry:
"I'm very nervous about it. We understand that artificial intelligence is coming, it's here, it's going to be a part of our lives. But we need to use it as a tool, it shouldn't replace people. People want to know that their jobs are protected."
- Eric Wallace, a screenwriter on the show "The Flash," said:
"It's not that AI shouldn't exist—it already does exist, that we can't stop. What we're looking for is regulation that keeps human beings and human interests in mind. I don't want a computer taking my script, learning from it for free, and I got nothing, and then putting me out of business."
Arguments against
- Ben Mankiewicz, host of Turner Classic Movies, acknowledges how AI can be a tool in the creative process:
"I'm worried but I don't want to sound reactionary. It's probably OK. It's probably mostly useful if it gets a creative person who finds the blank page daunting to think, 'Oh, all right, here's some pages, here's some ideas.'"
- Joshua Glick, a professor of film and electronic arts, spoke about how AI can be used in progressive and innovative ways:
"There have been instances where these tools have been used in quite progressive and creative ways. In Welcome to Chechnya, Ryan Laney, the effects supervisor, was using deepfake technology as a way to protect the onscreen subjects to essentially create what was called 'digital veils' for the individuals that appear in the film. It allowed those people to communicate and engage with audiences but also to maintain their anonymity."
"As is standard, we track, monitor and review any bills introduced that could potentially impact our business, and in compliance with New York State law, we transparently report those information-gathering efforts in our lobbying disclosures."
Should we ban AI from the film industry?
—Emma Kansiz & Jamie Epstein
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Need a "maybe" on this one. The film industry should be free to run its industry as they see fit BUT on their own dime - no tax breaks- and they need to work it out with their unions (actors, writers, etc).
There may be practical uses of AI in the film industry in ways that do not replace human talents, but this is a slippery slope.
Scanning actors and using their digital likeness to avoid paying them is anti-worker and greedy, and that cannot be allowed.
It's time for the government to work with industries to write guidelines for how to use AI safely in a way that preserves human dignity, income, health and safety.
pay your writers and actors.
• Should we ban AI from the film industry?
Absolutely Not!
• Should TV & Movie production companies get "Tax Breaks" for using AI?
No! Are you kidding?!
• Should the AI Industry be monitored and regulated?
Yes, but wisely not out of foolish fears.
• Should certain types of AI Development be subsidized?
Absolutely, if for the public good like for medical procedure or research, I'd support direct subsidies, Tax Breaks like tax credits, etc.
AI should not be allowed to operate in the film or news media.
I will refuse to watch movies written by Artificially Intelligent programs.
Such movies are simply a complicated combination of plagiarised sources previously writtenby living writers.
I want real movies written by real writers.
Art is for humans. It is a human expression of the human experience. AI shouldn't take over the entertainment industry.
AI is great for the film industry because of someone wants to much money don't worry I'll replace you with AI for free and all profit for me. So just realized AI is here to stay and is in every industry in the world already. The AI can write and act just as well if not better than the writer and or actor or actress themselves. So forget about it.
AI should be banned in any case where it eliminates an actor from playing the character that would have been played prior to AI. And it certainly should prevent any actors' voice or persona or face being used
Intellectual property comes in many forms, including creative talent. Using technology to in effect deprive intellectual property rights is just another form of electronic theft, as much as hackers who take from others what they have not earned for themselves.
I don't see AI as evil, but I am afraid that studios and funders of entertainment will do anything to increase profits and reduce jobs. If AI is merely used to help an artist create, without eliminating a job, then outstanding!
Banning AI is too vague. AI tools have been used in hollywood for years. A lot of people have seen the rapid advancement in AI these last view years, but fail to understand AI has been part of our everyday lives for years. For example, autocorrect is a form of AI.
I see no reason why using AI should give tax breaks.
As technology develops, A.I. will be part of our lives and industry as well. People's ability to work and make a living must be enhanced. Eliminating the tax break makes sense since taxpayer need to pay for education and support for career changes. Industry and the rich, who benefit from the tech changes, should help support the government who is helping individuals adjust to these changes.
Why would they get tax breaks for using AI? No tax breaks for them.
For now ban all use of AI until regulations are in place that will fairly protect all parties and prevent disinformation from continuing through it's use.
If we don't stop AI now, then regret is surely to come.
Further thoughts.
I don't see how the law would overcome. Certain legal challenges.
The key is "replace."
What if the script called for AI Characters from the start?
I don't have the time to dig into this question regarding Disney:
For many years LucasFilms / Disney has had three-dimensional appearing cartoons using some likenesses of some actors from the Star Wars films. Are the actors paid for their likenesses? I would imagine some kind of payment.
Not an "AI" fan on the grounds that the intelligence is no better than the person who programs it. One little misstep and all hell can break loose. It would have to be strictly regulated with stiff punishments for the abuser. Corporate doesn't need any more tax breaks to enhance their profit margin. Besides, think of all the job loss which would put more people on the poverty list.
Printing press, cotton gin, steam engine, assembly line, computers, Internet... the list goes on. You cannot stop the march of technology. What machines did to replace meat with mechanical muscle, AI is going to do with our brains. It will eliminate jobs, and there is no getting around that. And we shouldn't try to ban new technology with the film industry, any more than we should ban printing presses or word processors for eliminating scriveners. Sorry, Bartleby; a printed book may be less pretty than a sheaf of hand-lettered scrolls, but it gets the job done. The same will be true of AI-generated content: less nice than painstakingly hand-crafted, but good enough for a high percentage of day to day needs.
What we can do, and must do, is *regulate*. Production houses should not be allowed to pay someone $100 for an hour's labor, and then use a map of their face and recording of their voice to create infinite AI-generated material based on it. Nor should they be able to dodge paying residuals because "streaming" is somehow different than "broadcasting."
AI is here and not going anywhere. A ban won't work. Let's get smart about the tech, figure out the effect it's going to have on various industries it touches, and make sure we treat the humans involved with dignity and respect.
Hey people. Remember we are supposed to be a free country and we have a proud history of considering death preferable to loosing liberty. What are you thinking? Everyone dictating everything to everyone through government intervention? Seriously? Ordering the film industry around? Telling artists how they can perform their work? You people should be ashamed.
I wish there was a MAYBE option here. Like, maybe AI "art" should be available to those who seek it out, but only to those who seek it out. Maybe it should be available for free on certain platforms, but keep it off our movie screens, our TV screens, our radio stations, our library and bookstore shelves. It should be impossible for anyone to make money off AI-created content and it should all come with unavoidable, unignorable warnings that "this was NOT created by a person!"
using ai will allow the film imdustry toeliminate most actors and writers.