Hollywood is offering actors a frightening script

Hollywood is on strike. For the first time in more than six decades,

both writers and actors have walked off the job.

They are protesting, principally, the disruption to residual payments in the age of streaming. But they also are fighting to prevent studios from using actors’ digital likenesses without their consent, a prospect they rightly believe will threaten their livelihoods and their reputations as artistes.

It’s a delicate time. The arrival of ChatGPT last November sent ripples through the creative industries. The chatbot’s ability to churn out believable, detailed text material had scriptwriters wondering if their skills would one day no longer be needed.