Hollywood creatives reluctantly train AI to replace themselves for income amid industry slump
Behind-the-scenes Hollywood workers are taking jobs training AI to make ends meet as work dries up, even knowing it could spell the end of their careers.
A report by The Guardian reveals that a number of Hollywood creatives, including screenwriters, directors, and producers, are taking on side gigs as "AI trainers" to generate income amid a severe contraction in the entertainment industry.
The work ranges from teaching AI to write scripts and plan production schedules to reviewing AI-generated quality through RLHF (Reinforcement Learning from Human Feedback), paying between $12 and $200 per hour. However, many workers admit to a sense of irony, noting that the job feels like "digging their own professional graves" since the skills they teach will eventually be used to replace human labor.
This situation arises amid an economic downturn in the film and audio industry, where jobs have dropped by about 35%, combined with major studios increasingly turning to artificial intelligence technology. Data indicates that by 2026, Netflix will incorporate AI into roughly 300 out of 1,000 productions.
It reflects the immense pressure creative workers worldwide face as they navigate the rise of AI and economic conditions that force them to choose short-term survival despite the risk of long-term job loss—serving as a warning sign for creative professions in the modern era.