‘Digging the grave of my profession’: the Hollywood creatives training AI to do their jobs

Award-winning Hollywood creatives are taking gig work to train artificial intelligence models in order to offset the tightening earnings of the industry. Experienced writers, directors, and producers are being paid anywhere from $12 to $200 an hour to teach AI models the intricacies of their jobs, with tasks ranging from writing a screenplay to devising a shooting schedule.

These creatives are working with training agencies that have contracts with major AI companies such as Anthropic and OpenAI, and they are providing feedback on the AI systems' attempts to perform their jobs. The trend has raised feelings of fatalism and guilt among those involved, with some comparing it to being "handed a shovel and asked to dig the grave of my profession."

The decline in jobs within the motion picture and sound recording industries has led many creatives to seek alternate employment, as AI begins to take roles from actors, editors, and special effects artists. Netflix has already integrated AI into 300 of its 1,000 titles in 2026, and directors like Ron Howard are starting to embrace the technology.

Ruth Fowler, a screenwriter and producer, began training AIs to devise a detailed schedule for a hypothetical two-day shoot after concerns about an industry-wide 35% drop in production days. Some trainees, such as an anonymous LA documentary director, have admitted to feeling the future is inevitable and that they were essentially "handed a shovel and asked to dig the grave of my profession."