Hollywood on the Brink of Strike; Sheila Oummi: Artificial Intelligence Threatens Actors' Job Security

The American Actors Guild, known as "SAG-AFTRA," will strike if negotiations with major studios fail. Earlier this week, it was announced that nearly 98% of actors who participated in the guild's voting voted in favor of a strike. Thus, if negotiations between the American Actors Guild and the Producers Guild of America do not reach a conclusion by June 30, the strike will commence. Sheila Oummi, an Iranian artist residing in California and a member of the American Actors Guild, told Voice of America: "Many Iranians see actors as famous and wealthy individuals. But the truth is that a significant majority of actors, despite their hard work, are struggling to make a living and support their families due to inflation, wage compression, and old contracts that are still being used by new internet services." Although the boom in internet networks has increased the production of films, series, and other entertainment programs, the wages and working conditions for actors have not changed, and only their workload has increased. This issue is also a major concern for the Writers Guild of America (WGA), which has been on strike since last month. The strike by over 11,000 members of this guild has shut down American talk shows and halted the production of many television programs and series. Another significant issue that the American Actors Guild is protesting against is the use of artificial intelligence in film and series production, which threatens the job security of actors. Sheila Oummi states: "Due to significant advancements in artificial intelligence in recent years, this technology has progressed to the point where it can imitate voices and images so well that it can use our works as actors or voice actors to replace us." She continues: "If we do not take action in this area, we will find ourselves competing with our digital counterparts, and our livelihoods will be destroyed." According to this Iranian artist, such incidents are currently happening in the voice acting field, and a significant number of voice actors working on animated films, series, commercials, or video games are gradually losing their jobs. Ms. Oummi points out that artificial intelligence has replaced voice actors, and the sounds created by this technology not only sound very realistic but have also stolen the vocal characteristics and traits of some of the best voice actors in the industry. She states that the strike by the American Actors Guild is the only option to slow down this trend and protect artists. Sheila Oummi, who has a history of acting in various films and television shows, is one of the voice actors for Pixar and Disney's new animation called "Elemental," which will be released nationwide starting June 16. The strike by the American Actors Guild will increase pressure on the Producers Guild of America. About 65,000 members of the guild participated in this vote, with a participation rate of nearly 48%. This article is based on reports from Reuters and the Associated Press.