Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Top Creators Launch Coalition to Take On AI
As AI reshapes Hollywood, Daniel Kwan, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and fellow entertainment workers have launched the Creators Coalition on AI to defend human labor and creativity.
Hollywood has another AI battlefront, and this one is coming straight from the creative side. A new group called Creators Coalition on AI just launched, and the goal is pretty simple: keep actual humans in control of the work they make and the value it creates.
What is CCAI, exactly?
The Creators Coalition on AI (CCAI) is a new advocacy group set up in response to the increasingly messy ways AI is being used and negotiated in the film and TV world. It was formed by a mix of filmmakers, actors, producers, and industry vets who want a unified set of principles for how AI gets used in entertainment.
'Recently, the tech industry has announced a rapid series of agreements that have deeply alarmed the creative community. With generative AI evolving so quickly, creators need to come together, get on the same page, and leverage our collective power.'
Who is behind it
CCAI says it was founded by eighteen people. The announcement names Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmaker Daniel Kwan, producer Jonathan Wang, actors Natasha Lyonne and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, former Academy president Janet Yang, filmmakers David Goyer and Paul Trillo, cinematographer Jim Geduldick, Tim Friedlander, Lynn Renee, Randima Fernando, Jac Schaeffer, Ted Tremper, Dawn Nakagawa, Nathalia Ramos, Alex Gardels, and Nick Goddard. If you feel like that count is a little fuzzy, you are not alone, but those are the names they put forward.
What they want
The coalition says it is an 'agnostic convening organization' — translation: they are trying to be a neutral hub that brings different corners of the industry together to hammer out shared standards for AI. They have four core pillars they want to see adopted across entertainment:
- Transparency, Consent, and Compensation for Content and Data
- Job Protection and Transition Plans
- Guardrails against Misuse and Deepfakes
- Safeguarding Humanity in the Creative Process
Who is backing it
More than 500 artists have signed on in support, including Cate Blanchett, Rian Johnson, Phil Lord, Kristen Stewart, and Taika Waititi. In other words: this is not a fringe group.
Why now
According to the coalition, the tech industry has been rolling out deal after deal around generative AI that set off alarm bells for creators. CCAI says it has spent the last several months getting broad alignment on responsible AI principles so the industry can move forward without erasing the people who actually make the stuff we watch.