Jim Foronda

When I tried to help SAG with AI education a couple years ago, I joined a committee that invited me to a meeting with an AI company that was flirting with the union. "We have to see how it works" they said. I said, "No we don't, we know what it does, don't you?". But they met anyway & I would be there just as a technical advisor. We got a demo, the tech guy assured us we'd all be feeding our voices in "on the ground floor" getting in before everyone & making more money with less work. "Make money in your PJs" always comes up as a trite, oft-repeated slogan for actors, as though we all hate what we do as much as tech bros. They all joked together & my side asked the most cringey tech-illiterate questions. When they did, I heard his voice smile because he knew he had them. My side played their cards & showed their ignorance & whole ass, trying to figure out the most lucrative way forward, while talking about how this is necessary to achieve AI protections. I was the only person to say "what do you have to say about the ethical repercussions? That all of this was built from stolen data and exploitation, in order to achieve more stolen data and exploitation". On my side, people interrupted me, apologizing for me. You know what I was told by my own people? "Well it will only affect the less talented, less in-demand actors." I contested, but as a new member I was told "sometimes you have to change things from the inside, Melissa". So I never went back to another meeting. It felt like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers & I was the only one uninfected. That's why I stopped. The damage was already done & already in too deep. And no one seemed interested in fixing it. I know a losing battle when I see one. The great hope is that a union is comprised of its members, & regimes change. There's no permanent jobs in the union. But there ARE some great people in the Union who are actually fighting for the good things, but the foundation is rotten. I hope things change. Even though SAG just renewed Duncan's contract until 2032 because he's doing such a good job. 👍 This was a committee member meeting not an official union negotiation. My point is that if this is happening so openly around lower leadership, I hate to think what decisions are made even further behind closed doors.