Sadly, I think they will get them, one way or another.

All it will take is a handful of people desperate for money agreeing to be 3d scanned, and maybe a few months of interns saying yes/no to particular faces, and bam, hundreds of extras ready to be used and abused for decades to cover.

Which is why these union negotiations are so important. Sure, that will probably happen. But if SAG-AFTRA says they can’t be used on union shows, well, they won’t be lol

But if SAG-AFTRA says they can’t be used on union shows, well, they won’t be lol

Union shows immidiately get outcompeted by AI generation and all studios doing business with them go out of business.

AI is the future here guys. Union won't stop it. They'll just drag Hollywood down with them.

Only if Hollywood wants to go completely non-union. Good luck with that. IATSE isn’t going to crow a movie if SAG-AFTRA and the WGA aren’t involved. Maybe they’ll find enough non-union crew to do a big time movie, but they’ll be making it in the Philippines.

Or in America.

In the long term, AI is going to be such a massive force multiplier that you'll be able to get away with non union writers and actors.

If all goes well you will be able to produce a film in your basement and have it rival the quantity of the current big boys. That will be a long while, but in the meantime any industry that loses a 2x productivity boost will die to its competition.