Digital doubles, fake trailers and AI take centre stage as Hollywood actors’ union begin labour talks

A search for Wes Anderson on YouTube turns up trailers that the famed director with a distinctive style appears to have made for adaptations of “Star Wars,” “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings” featuring Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson and other stars.

Artificial intelligence allowed people with no real actors and far smaller resources than major Hollywood studios to generate the fake movie trailers, feeding debate on the issue that will be on the bargaining table when the SAG-AFTRA actors union begins labour talks with studios on June 7.

AI already has divided studios and striking film and television writers, who want assurances that the emerging technology will not be used to generate scripts.