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Actors’ and writers’ unions do not have a single AI policy or a blanket ban. SAG-AFTRA’s rules focus on a performer’s voice, likeness, digital replicas, consent, compensation and the risk of synthetic performers replacing human work. The Writers Guild of America (WGA) focuses on whether AI output is writing, who receives credit and compensation, disclosure of AI-generated material, voluntary use and protection of writers’ work.
The operative actor-side terms now include SAG-AFTRA’s TV/Theatrical agreement executed May 27, 2026 and ratified in June 2026. The WGA position below is based on its explanation of the 2023 Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA), updated December 18, 2025. These are negotiated protections and continuing union positions, not a universal prohibition on AI in film and television.
The short answer: two unions, two different problems
Actors and writers face different kinds of AI substitution, so their unions negotiated different controls. SAG-AFTRA is protecting a person’s performance identity: face, voice, likeness, movement and the economic value of appearing in a production. The WGA is protecting the status of writing: authorship, credit, compensation, the writer’s control over tools and the use of writers’ material in AI systems.
That difference explains why the agreements cannot be reduced to a single “AI rule.” An actor may need consent before a producer creates or uses a digital replica. A writer may be told that a company supplied AI-generated pages, but the pages do not become literary material or make the writer an author of that output. Both unions continue to contest broader issues, including displacement and the use of copyrighted material to train AI.
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What SAG-AFTRA’s AI rules protect
Consent to create and use a digital replica
SAG-AFTRA’s March 17, 2023 statement said that terms for digitally simulating a performer to create new performances must be bargained with the union. It also said that reuse of recorded performances is governed by collectively bargained provisions, including consent and compensation. The union described these rights as mandatory subjects of bargaining; that statement is the union’s position, not a court ruling.
The 2023 TV/Theatrical agreement summary described separate protections for digital replicas of living and deceased members. Producers must obtain consent before creating a replica, give at least 48 hours’ notice, and obtain informed consent for its use. In most cases, the performer must be paid for use and receive residuals when the performer would have earned residuals by doing the work directly.
Those decisions are distinct. Permission to scan, record or otherwise create a replica is not automatically permission for every later use. Permission for one scene, episode or project does not necessarily cover a changed use. SAG-AFTRA’s explanatory FAQ says consent is generally required for each use, subject to limited exceptions.
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The 2023 summary says producers cannot use replicas to avoid hiring background actors or to evade coverage maximums. It also requires consent for digital alteration beyond established and traditional post-production edits and fixes. Those provisions target attempts to turn a limited performance or ordinary visual correction into an unlimited substitute for human labor.
Employment-based versus independently created replicas
SAG-AFTRA distinguishes two categories:
- Employment-based digital replica: created with a performer’s participation in connection with a particular project.
- Independently created digital replica: created outside a particular project and potentially licensed into a project when the performer is not physically working.
For a series-level consent exception, the producer must identify each episode or picture and describe the planned use with reasonable specificity. If the planned use changes, further consent is required. The distinction matters because a producer cannot treat a broad series authorization as permission for an unspecified future use.
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What changed in the 2026 SAG-AFTRA TV/Theatrical agreement
Human performance is the stated starting principle
For certain productions beginning principal photography on or after July 1, 2026, the agreement states: “The parties acknowledge and reaffirm the importance and central role of human performance in motion pictures.” It establishes a principle strongly favoring human performances, but it does not create an absolute veto over every synthetic character.
How a synthetic performer is defined
The 2026 agreement defines generative AI broadly as a subset of AI that learns patterns from data and produces content, while distinguishing it from traditional task-specific technologies such as CGI and visual effects. A “Synthetic” is a digitally created asset intended to give the clear impression of a natural performer who is not recognizable as an identifiable natural performer, is not voiced by a natural person, is not a digital replica and has no employment arrangement for that role in the motion picture.
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1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Fix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitches3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsA synthetic, therefore, is not simply another name for an actor’s digital replica. A replica is based on an identifiable performer; the contract’s synthetic category describes a digitally created performer that is not recognizable as a particular natural person and is not voiced by one.
Notice, bargaining and possible remuneration
When a producer reasonably concludes that a synthetic would bring significant additional value to a human role that otherwise would be performed by a human, the producer must give the union prior written notice and bargain in good faith over the use and any appropriate consideration.
If bargaining fails and the synthetic is used, the union may arbitrate remuneration under the agreement. Any remuneration awarded through that process is directed to the relevant health or pension/retirement plan. This is a defined notice-and-bargaining process, not a categorical ban on synthetic performers.
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Using a performer’s recognizable facial feature
The agreement also requires the identified performer’s consent when a producer creates a synthetic with a recognizable principal facial feature by prompting with that performer’s name and feature. The provision includes stated First Amendment exceptions. It addresses a specific form of prompting and does not erase the agreement’s other rules governing replicas, consent or use.
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Network television is not automatically identical
SAG-AFTRA’s current AI timeline records that members ratified the new TV/Theatrical agreement in June 2026 and says it adds terms further restricting synthetics and protecting against AI replacing members’ work. The same timeline records a 2025 Network Television Code commitment to adopt future AI terms secured in the 2026 negotiations. That commitment should not be read as proof that every 2026 theatrical clause applied identically to every network television agreement at the time.
Practical answers for actors
Can a producer use my digital replica without my consent?
Generally, no: the negotiated framework requires consent before creating a replica and informed consent for use, with limited exceptions. Check the exact agreement, notice and proposed use. Consent to one identified use is not automatically consent to a materially different use.
Can a producer replace a human performer with a synthetic?
The 2026 agreement does not impose a blanket prohibition. For covered productions and qualifying human roles, the producer must provide prior written notice and bargain in good faith when the synthetic is said to add significant additional value. If the synthetic is used after unsuccessful bargaining, the agreement provides an arbitration route for remuneration, directed to a health or retirement plan.
What should an actor check before signing?
- Whether the document authorizes creation of a replica, use of an existing replica, or both.
- Which productions, episodes, scenes, territories and time periods are identified.
- How changed or new uses trigger additional consent.
- What fees, residuals or other compensation apply.
- Whether the proposed alteration goes beyond ordinary post-production edits.
Because the 2026 terms supersede earlier summaries where they amend them, actors should rely on the operative agreement and applicable union guidance rather than a generic AI clause copied from a 2023 explanation.
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What the WGA says about AI-generated writing
AI is not a writer under the MBA
The WGA’s official guidance summarizing the 2023 MBA states: “Neither traditional AI (technologies including those used in CGI and VFX) nor generative AI (GAI, meaning artificial intelligence that produces content including written material) is a writer, so no written material produced by traditional AI or GAI can be considered literary material.”
That rule addresses status, not whether companies may use software. AI output does not become literary material merely because it appears in a screenplay workflow, and the system does not receive writer status or credit.
Company-supplied AI material and compensation
If a company gives a writer previously unpublished or unexploited AI-generated material, the WGA summary says it does not count as assigned material for compensation or as source material for determining credits. It also cannot disqualify the writer from separated rights. The practical effect is to prevent a company from labeling AI-generated pages as the writer’s assignment and then using that label to reduce contractual compensation or alter credit analysis.
Can a company require a writer to use AI?
No. A writer may choose to use AI if the company consents and the writer follows applicable company policies, but the company may not require AI use. The rule is therefore not a ban on writers voluntarily using a tool; it is a protection against compelled use.
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Must a company disclose AI-generated material?
Yes, under the WGA summary, companies must disclose when material given to a writer was generated by AI or incorporates AI-generated content. That disclosure allows the writer and the union to evaluate whether the material affects assignment treatment, credit, compensation or rights.
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Training AI on writers’ material remains contested
The WGA reserves the right to argue that exploiting writers’ material to train AI is prohibited by the MBA or other law. That reservation is an advocacy position, not a final contract interpretation or a definitive ruling on fair use.
WGAW says companies agreed to meet with the Guild about their current and intended AI use. Separately, the Writers Guild of America East records that it joined WGAW, SAG-AFTRA and other parties in a November 26, 2025 amicus brief supporting the plaintiff’s argument in Reuters v. Ross Intelligence that training AI on copyrighted material without consent is not fair use. The brief reflects the unions’ litigation position; it does not itself resolve the underlying copyright question for every film, television or AI-training dispute.
SAG-AFTRA and WGA compared
| Issue | SAG-AFTRA | WGA |
|---|---|---|
| Protected work or identity | Performance, voice, likeness, facial features and digital replicas of performers. | Writing, literary material, authorship, credit, compensation and separated rights. |
| Main control mechanism | Consent to create and use replicas; notice and bargaining over qualifying synthetics; compensation and residuals. | AI cannot be a writer; disclosure of supplied AI material; voluntary use only with company consent and policy compliance. |
| Substitution concern | Replicas must not be used to avoid hiring background actors or evade coverage limits; synthetic-in-human-role use triggers notice and bargaining in covered cases. | AI output is not literary material, and a company cannot compel a writer to use AI. |
| Unresolved or continuing issue | Broader replica licensing, future synthetic uses and the extent of displacement protections. | Whether training on writers’ material violates the MBA or copyright law, including fair-use questions. |
What these rules do—and do not—mean for productions
The agreements create processes rather than a single technology test. A production must identify what it wants to create or use, determine whether the asset is a replica or a contract-defined synthetic, provide the required notice, obtain the required consent and address compensation where applicable. A writer’s project must likewise identify whether supplied pages contain AI-generated material, preserve the writer’s contractual treatment and avoid compelled tool use.
Neither union has established a universal statistic showing how many film or television jobs AI has displaced, how many productions use AI or what the total economic effect is. SAG-AFTRA’s March 17, 2023 statement described approximately 160,000 members; that figure indicates the union’s scale, not the number of members affected by AI.
Why the distinction matters to viewers and creators
Calling every computer-generated image a “digital replica” obscures whether an identifiable performer’s rights are involved. Calling every AI-assisted screenplay “a writer’s work” obscures the WGA’s contract treatment of literary material and credit. The union positions are best understood as negotiated guardrails: actors receive controls over identity and performance simulation, while writers receive controls over authorship, disclosure and compelled use.
Those guardrails can evolve through bargaining, amendments, arbitration and litigation. The 2026 SAG-AFTRA agreement is the current operative reference for its covered TV/Theatrical terms, while the WGA’s published guidance explains the 2023 MBA provisions and the Guild’s continuing policy and legal positions.
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