Fran Drescher issued a dire warning against artificial intelligence as the head of the actors’ union during the SAG awards Saturday.
The Screen Actors Guild and American Federation of Radio and Television Artists are on the heels of its “historic billion dollar deal,” in Drescher’s words. While the deal included protections against AI that require consent from performers before their likeness is infused with AI, with provisions for compensation should they opt into it, Drescher still rang alarm bells. The SAG-AFTRA president brought up the topic in her speech in the middle of the award ceremony, streamed live on Netflix.
“During the fight for a better TV theatrical contract global ideas emerged. AI will entrap us in a matrix where none of us know what’s real,” Drescher said. “If an inventor lacks empathy and spirituality perhaps that’s not the invention we need.”
Instead, Drescher advocated for film and television stories that “spark the human spirit, connect us to the natural world, and awaken our capacity to love unconditionally.” While many of the award winners went to films based on true stories like Oppenheimer and Killers of the Flower Moon, still dystopian series like the zombie video game retelling of The Last of Us was also recognized. Barbie, the film based on the children’s toy, was also up for nomination but did not win any awards.
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Drescher congratulated actors in the room for sparking the “hot labor summer,” which included strikes and near-strikes among the Writers Guild of America, UPS, auto workers, and culinary workers. The union held strong over its longest strike in history at 118 days.
The actress won her reelection as SAG-AFTRA president in September, where she will remain until at least 2025. She will likely continue to appear at award ceremonies like Saturday’s, which was the 30th in the union’s history.