If the myth of tech over the past decade has been one of constant innovation, algorithmic scale, and new products and devices that “simply work,” the truth is that all of those illusions were made possible by the obfuscation of labor: the contract content moderators who sanitize the feeds of Facebook and YouTube from violence and extremist content; the warehouse workers at Amazon fulfillment centers trying to meet the guarantees of same-day shipping; the gig workers of all kinds — Uber drivers, food delivery cyclists, Instacart shoppers, among them — all of whom are at the whims of increasingly efficient platforms and wayward legislation.
And that’s not even to speak of the white-collar tech workforce that, while better compensated, is still being taken advantage of by NDAs and mandatory arbitration clauses that keep hidden the realities of discrimination and harassment in the office. But now, some workers across tech companies are organizing for better treatment and pay. Others are making efforts to unionize. Most importantly, the movement will reach everyone who works in tech — and anyone who uses those platforms. The story of the tech industry over the next decade will be the reckoning brought on by its workforce.
Netflix says it expects a free cash flow of at least $5 billion in 2023 — $1.5 billion more than its original $3.5 billion estimate, citing the “ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes,” but noting there could be “lumpiness” moving to 2024.
The strikes have already shut down several Netflix productions, including Stranger Things, Big Mouth, Emily in Paris, and more.
According to a report from Bloomberg, over “a dozen current and former employees” believe the company isn’t doing enough to hire and promote women and people of color.
Internal metrics provided to Bloomberg indicate that both executives and standard employees at Roblox “skew heavily male.” The company also “has no targets around hiring or promoting diverse employees,” Bloomberg reports, and instead hires people based on an “unbiased system.”
The Screen Actors Guild went on strike over major studios’ refusal to meet their demands for a two percent cut of streaming revenue and a 230 percent increase in foreign streaming residuals, among others, according to Variety.
On studios’ use of generative AI and actors’ digital likenesses, Variety writes:
The union wants to require that a performer has to consent to any use of their performance to train an AI system. The AMPTP would accept that for AI training used to alter or recreate that performer’s likeness. But according to Crabtree-Ireland, the AMPTP would give studios carte blanche to train AI systems to create “synthetic” performers, or for other purposes.
SAG-AFTRA also wants studios to get union consent on individual uses of AI, which the studios have refused to grant. There is also the dispute over background actors.
With both writers and actors on strike, the future of Hollywood is at stake.
Two out of the big three Hollywood labor unions are on strike, citing streaming and AI as major issues, and actors are starting to picket offices for companies like Warner Bros., Netflix, and Amazon. This screengrab from CNBC captures the initial reaction of Wall Street.
The poor working conditions that prop up Korea’s film and TV industry are something that workers rights activists hoped Netflix might help combat as the streamer began to source more original programming in the country.
But in a bleak new report from the LA Times, production workers attached to a number of Korean Netflix projects say that post-Squid Game (with its relatively cheap budget), things are only becoming more dire.
Secret Invasion’s AI-generated opening credits aren’t Marvel’s best, but they do feel like a very telling sign of where the studio and the larger entertainment industry are at right now.
On May 31st, a group of six AI chatbot trainers employed by Google subcontractor Appen were fired after they spoke out about how their poor working conditions could make Google’s Bard chatbot dangerous.
The Alphabet Workers Union now says the workers’ jobs have been reinstated with backpay. AWU provided The Verge with a copy of the email from Appen’s RaterLabs explaining the decision:
Based on our continuing consideration and review of our business needs, we have determined that some recent reductions of our workforce were not necessary and can be reversed. Consequently, we are pleased to offer you the option to return to work with RaterLabs.
Internal complaints about Bard previously called it “a pathological liar” and begged the company not to launch it.
The Directors Guild of America has already approved a tentative new labor contract with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and encouraged members to ratify it by vote.
But ahead of the voting deadline on June 23rd, a number of directors including Lilly Wachowski have begun speaking out about why they’ve cast “no” ballots, namely: some concerning language in the proposed contract relating to “generative” AI that definitely seems like it could be exploited in nefarious ways.
Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.
Should the Screen Actors Guid’s upcoming talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers not result in a new labor contract that both sides agree on, the entertainment labor union will be in a position to strike now that an majority of SAG-AFTRA’s members voted to authorize the move.
As Variety notes, SAG-AFTRA’s vote to strike comes as the WGA’s ongoing strike enters its sixth week.
Disclosure: The Verge’s editorial staff is also unionized with the Writers Guild of America, East.
Members of the Writers Guild of America spoke out against the deal, as seen in a report in Deadline. Several with membership in one or both guilds tweeted complaints that the DGA had “made a deal behind our backs” and didn’t get “close to no AI source material.”
WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser was quoted in another Deadline article today:
If [AMPTP President] Carol Lombardini thinks negotiating with the DGA while we’re out on strike is some kind of trump card, she’s going to find out that her 2007-08 playbook doesn’t belong in the negotiating room; it belongs in a museum.
“RTO, layoffs, and a broken Climate Pledge all show leadership is exhibiting Day 2 behavior and taking us in the wrong direction,” the organizers wrote. The walkout is scheduled to begin at 3PM ET.
In TV critic Maureen Ryan’s forthcoming book Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood, multiple writers and actors who worked on ABC’s Lost describe the hit network show’s inner workings as a toxic nightmare of Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse’s making:
“It’s very easy to think, well, it can’t have been that bad or someone would have done something. It was that bad, and no one did anything because retribution was a constant and looming presence.”
That’s according to LCSPA executive director Phil Aram, who tells The Verge the two sides will be meeting. Professional North American League of Legends esports players recently voted to walk out over rule changes that have largely decimated the amateur league.
According to a report from Gizmodo, NEDA fired the employees that run its eating disorder helpline after they successfully unionized. In their place, NEDA says it will start using an AI-powered chatbot, named Tessa, in June.
The union that represents the workers condemns the decision, stating: “A chat bot is no substitute for human empathy, and we believe this decision will cause irreparable harm to the eating disorders community.”
As if it wasn’t already painfully obvious how ready studios are to further devalue the labor workers do to make their films and TV shows possible, Max’s new interface has done away with listing writing and directing credits in favor of a catch-all “Creators” label.
Because hey, what’s the difference between a writer, a non-writing producer, and a director? They’re all just little content machines, right?
The crowdfunding company’s organizing effort was divisive but still remains a landmark moment in the tech labor movement.
The early days of AI in game development have been full of questions and murky answers.
