LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2023-09-25
Neither traditional nor generative AI is a writer under the US screenwriters' 2023 agreement, and a company may not require a writer to use ChatGPT to write literary material
Writer and authoroccupation page →
Event date / reported
2023-09-25
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Screenwriting and rewrites
Writing and rewriting scripts for film and television.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United States, film and television writing under the Writers Guild contract. The agreement says that because neither traditional AI nor generative AI is a person, neither is a writer, and material they produce is not literary material; generative-AI material is not source material for writing credit; a company may not require, as a condition of employment, that a writer use a generative AI program that produces literary material (for example ChatGPT); and a writer must obtain the company's consent before using generative AI. Companies may require tools that do not generate writing, such as plagiarism detection. It binds signatory companies only.
What this means
In US film and television, the writer is by contract a person, and AI cannot take the credit or be forced on the writer.
What it does not yet show
One US collective agreement; non-union and other countries' work is not covered.
What you can check
Open the WGA's 2023 Memorandum of Agreement and find "a Company may not require a writer to use ChatGPT".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 1 linked task judgement above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
Writers Guild of America and AMPTP — Memorandum of Agreement for the 2023 WGA Theatrical and Television Basic Agreement (September 25, 2023), Article 72 · verified 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-09-30 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.