Registered nurses with the California Nurses Association/National Nurse United held a solidarity rally Tuesday in support of striking Hollywood writers and actors. All three groups are concerned about the threat AI may pose to the future of their professions.
“Their fight is our fight,” CNA/NNU President Cathy Kennedy told KNX News. “Writers and actors are really looking at their livelihoods, and we are really fighting to protect the humanity which is part of our profession.”
The Writers Guild of America has been on strike since May, with the regulation of AI-generated material being one of the main sticking points in their negotiations with Hollywood studios.
SAG-AFTRA joined the WGA on the picket lines in July. Actors are also concerned about the use of AI to replace human performances or repurpose their likeness without their consent.
Kennedy said the medical industry is already using AI algorithms to make judgment calls that would previously be made by nurses, which impacts both patient care and working conditions at already-understaffed hospitals.
“AI shouldn’t replace what we know as nurses with our critical thinking skills,” she said. “We also have algorithms that say how much staffing we need based on how we do our documentation, which isn’t always true.”
She says she and other nurses can relate to what the actors and writers are going through, particularly when it comes to wage issues and corporate greed.
“The writers are really struggling to make a living wage, whereas the rich are getting richer,” she said. All of a sudden the middle class is pretty much not even there.”
CNA/NNU says the rally outside Netflix headquarters is to “flip the script on AI,” which can’t replace the critical thinking of human workers.
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