Animation Guild Faces Discontent on Artificial Intelligence Terms in New Contract

variety.com:

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Animation Guild has unveiled the full terms of its new contract with the major studios, along with a candid explanation as to why it could not do more to protect against artificial intelligence.

The union, which represents about 5,000 animators, technicians and writers, reached a tentative agreement on Nov. 23, after three months of bargaining.

The deal includes certain guardrails around AI, but does not allow animators to opt out of using it if their job requires it, nor can they prevent their work from being used to “train” AI models.

After the memorandum of agreement was published Tuesday night, some members expressed discontent with the deal. Shion Takeuchi, creator of the Netflix show “Inside Job,” argued there are “no substantive protections” against AI. “In this MOA there is nothing to stop the studios from gutting the staff,” she said via text. “We are chattel to them.” The agreement also does not include minimum staffing levels for animators and other craftspeople, which was a key issue, though it does provide a minimum of three writers for animated TV shows, with certain exceptions.