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Film And TV Writers Go On Strike, Bringing Production On Many Shows To A Halt; AI Pioneer Quits Google To Warn About The Technology`s "Dangers." Aired 4-4:10a ET

Aired May 04, 2023 - 04:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

COY WIRE, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hello sunshine. Welcome to Thursday or as we like to say, Happy Friday Eve. We`re here in beautiful Miami ahead of the big

Formula One race this weekend, where drivers like the legend Lewis Hamilton will be going, flying down the track more on him in a few.

Let`s get this show on the road and do it we do. I`m Coy Wire. This is CNN 10, the best 10 minutes in news. Let`s start today with something that`s

making big headlines out of Hollywood in the entertainment industry, the writer strike. More than 11,000 members of the Writers Guild of America

went on strike for the first time in more than 15 years. It`s a move bringing the production of many television shows to a standing halt. And it

could even possibly delay the start of new seasons of other shows later this year.

Writers say they are not being paid by the studios fairly in the streaming era. Union leadership says, "studios responses to our proposals have been

wholly insufficient, given the existential crisis writers are facing." And that they are, "closing the door on their labor force and opening the door

to writing as an entirely freelance profession."

Now the alliance of Motion Picture and television producers is the trade association that bargains on behalf of the studios, television networks and

streaming platforms. They said in a statement that its offer included, "generous increases in compensation for writers." But was not willing to

meet some of the union`s demands such as requiring companies to staff television shows with a certain number of writers for a specific period of

time, whether needed or not.

Many shows on cable and broadcast networks have already filmed their final episodes for the current season. But late-night shows will be the first to

be impacted with this strike as many of those shows have already announced they`ll be going dark this week. Our Stephanie Elam has more for us from

the picket lines.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These members of the Writers Guild of America are out here in front of Netflix in Hollywood, to voice their

displeasure with contract negotiations and saying that they`re on strike because they need to make a living wage. A lot of these people live here in

Los Angeles or in New York, where those are two of the most expensive cities in their country. And they`re saying they need to make a living wage

and at issue, they`re also saying that they should make more money for the shows that they do for the streamers. They`re saying that the business

model hasn`t adapted and they`re not getting their fair share.

Also, they`re saying they want to make sure that the writer rooms are protected. And the number of writers who are on the show have viable work.

They`re saying that the studios are really pushing for a gig economy. And they`re saying they can`t support their families that way. In fact, take a

listen to one of the writers talk about their frustrations.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This becomes a gig job rather than a stable job. And you were searching all year for your next job and your next job. And taking

offers that are less than less than being told by the companies. This is simply what we offer now. I am not living

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not living in Beverly Hills. It`s a struggle for everybody. It`s hard, I mean, it`s expensive to live in this town. And I

think we`re all, you know, everybody struggles, everybody`s trying to pay bills, everybody`s trying to just make a decent living and a decent wage.

And I don`t think what we`re asking for is unfair at all.

ELAM: Now on the other side, the studios are saying is that the business has changed. You`re saying they`re feeling pressure from Wall Street, to

bring down how much they`ve been spending on all the shows that they`re streaming, and all the shows that they`re making. And they`re saying they

don`t want to pay to just have writers in the room if they`re not working specifically on any show at that time.

Of course, this is a very far gap between where they are right now. The last time we saw a strike it was 15 years ago, and it lasted for 100 days.

And as we had estimates of costing some $2 billion or so. Right now, where they are, they`re not even sure if they`re even close to getting to a deal.

I`m told by the chief negotiator for the WGA. But as far as the people who watch the shows, the people who consume these shows, it`s impacting

already, because we`ve seen the late-night talk shows already go to black. They are saying they will be black as long as this strike is happening. So

that means Seth Meyers, I mean Stephen Colbert, that means the Daily Show and Saturday Night Live, all dark for now.

As far as TV shows and movies, a lot of those are already pre-produced and already in the can. But if this drags on for a long time, then some of the

favorite shows that people like to watch could be impacted, you might see seasons delayed. All of that is down the line. But for now, this is what

the Writers Guild of America says they need to do to get their fair share of pay. Stephanie Elam, CNN Hollywood.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Ten second trivia. In 1955, mathematician John McCarthy coined what term?

Artificial Intelligence, Virtual Reality, Metaverse or 3D Printing?

AI had a number of early contributors to the concept, but McCarthy is credited with coming up with the name.

The advancement of AI technology has been so swift that many of us can look at something today and question, is that real or not? Especially when it

comes to photos, videos, text and music, to name a few. Well, Geoffrey Hinton, also known as the Godfather of AI, decided he had to blow the

whistle on this technology he helped develop. He made headlines for leaving his role at Google last week because he wanted to speak more openly about

his growing concerns around AI. Hinton said, AI has the potential to eliminate jobs and create a world where many will, "not be able to know

what is true anymore." Our Anna Stewart has more on Hinton`s warnings.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: The chorus of critics, warning about the risks of AI are growing louder. And this particular voice comes from Geoffrey

Hinton, a pioneer of the technology. His work on Neural Networks provided a key foundation for many of the AI applications that you see today.

Now, he has quit his job, and he`s tweeted that he left so that he could talk about the dangers of AI without considering how that impacts Google.

Adding that Google has acted very responsibly. And for its part, Google says it remains committed to a responsible approach.

Hinton says he`s concerned that people won`t be able to distinguish what`s real, and what AI generated or manipulated by the internet. And that

includes music, videos, texts, photos, and we are seeing examples of this a lot.

Hinton also expressed concern about the impact AI will have on people`s jobs. And that comment came as the CEO of IBM in an interview with

Bloomberg said, AI may replace up to 30% around 7800 of their back-office jobs.

Finally, Hinton says AI could become smarter than people and pose a threat to humanity. And he now thinks that will happen much sooner than he had

once thought.

Now, all this, he says, has been exacerbated by huge competition by the big tech companies. There`s open AI, there`s Microsoft, Google, IBM, Amazon,

Baidu, Tencent, all racing to position themselves in the AI space. But Hinton thinks perhaps there should be a pause. He says scientists should

really work together at this stage to control the technology, saying, I don`t think they should scale this up more, until they have understood

whether they can control it. Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: All right, today`s story, getting a 10 out of 10 is the one and only Lewis Hamilton widely considered as the goat, the Greatest Of All Time in

Formula One racing. He has more wins than any other driver ever and a record tying Seven World Championships. He started driving karts as a kid

and some people would make fun of him because he couldn`t afford a fancy kart like other racers, but Lewis` dad said, son, let your racing do the

talking. And today Lewis has built himself into a legend with hard work, dedication and belief in himself.

You know, youngsters today, they see social media and they think success is easy. And it`s overnight.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEWIS HAMILTON, FORMULA ONE, RACE CAR DRIVER: Yeah.

WIRE: Not true. I think it`s really important that they see legends like you had to grind before you shine. What was one of the jobs coming up when

you look back, he`s kind of giggled about it?

HAMILTON: Cleaning cars probably. I was cleaning -- I was cleaning cars for like a dealer in town. I worked at a close clothing store. And I worked

at a sneaker, sneaker store when I was like JD Sports when I was a kid. So, I tried a bunch of different things. But I was always -- when I was at

work, all I was thinking of is, how I`m going to win the next race.

And yeah, I think you`re right today I think people do see successful people on social media and taught them how to understand, how much grafting

it takes to become -- to get to a good place and -- but the crazy thing is I`m -- I`m in my, what, my 17th year of this sport, and doing 30 years, I`m

still grafting. I`m still having to chip away. I`m still having to work like never before to be able to excel in a sport that`s constantly

evolving. The competition is constantly rising; it`s getting more and more -- it`s getting tougher and tougher by the year. You just got to have the

winning mindset and also that belief in yourself that you will get there no matter how many times you fall.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WIRE: Awesome stuff. You can see Lewis on TV, zoom in at speeds of up to 200 miles per hour this weekend right here in Miami as he keeps chasing

greatness. Hope something in today`s show helps you chase your greatness as well. Great potential lies within.

Special shout out is going to the Assets School in Honolulu, Hawaii, aloha and many blessings to you. I`m Coy Wire and we are CNN 10.

END