Will this pair of Hollywood strikes ever end? It looks like the large businesses are digging in for a lengthy war, exemplified by Netflix’s latest job posting for a machine learning platform product manager. The role earns an annual salary of $300,000 to $900,000 at a time when many performers make around $200 a day, according to this SAG-AFTRA contract.
The role AI will play in developing future entertainment is a crucial item of debate for both striking groups.The job description states that the AI will be used to “create great content” and not only develop new algorithms to propose series and movies.
The article also hints to a far-reaching attempt by the streaming giant to integrate artificial intelligence in “all areas of the business.” A different section on the company’s website goes on to explain that Netflix employs AI “to optimize the production of original movies and TV shows.”
That’s not the company’s first AI-heavy job posting promising a large payoff. Netflix is also seeking a technical director for generative AI at its expanding gaming studio that pays an annual salary of up to $650,000, as revealed by The Intercept.
These efforts are already showing fruit, as Netflix presently airs a Spanish reality dating series called Deep Fake Love that scans contestant’s faces to create AI-generated “deepfakes” and its gaming studio leverages generative AI to build storylines and dialogue.
This all comes after striking actors rejected a proposal from the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) that generously offered workers a one-time $200 day fee for performers to get scanned for future usage as AI-enhanced CGI simulacrums forever, till the end of time.
SAG-AFTRA argues the firm would “own that scan, their image, their likeness, and be able to use it for the rest of eternity in any project they want with no consent and no compensation.”