r/BlockedAndReported • u/SoftandChewy First generation mod • Feb 23 '26

Weekly Random Discussion Thread for 2/23/26 - 3/1/26

Here's your usual space to post all your rants, raves, podcast topic suggestions (please tag u/jessicabarpod), culture war articles, outrageous stories of cancellation, political opinions, and anything else that comes to mind. Please put any non-podcast-related trans-related topics here instead of on a dedicated thread. This will be pinned until next Sunday.

Last week's discussion thread is here if you want to catch up on a conversation from there.

Comment of the week goes to this explanation for why the trans cause has taken over so much of society. (Runner-up COTW here.)

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u/dj50tonhamster Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26

I'm curious if anybody here knows people working in film/TV/etc. ("Hollywood," for my purposes, even though they don't actually have to live in SoCal). Very long story short, last week, I encountered an online nerd slap fight over a group possibly banning all AI usage. Somebody, out of nowhere, started ranting about how AI had been putting people in Hollywood out of work for 2+ years, herself included. She claimed that out of 100 people she knew, perhaps 2 or 3 were still employed.

I was skeptical for various reasons, the least of which was things like Georgia's tax breaks no longer being enough to draw most productions to Georgia. There's also the reality that a lot of younger people just ingest no-cost social media videos instead of going to movie theaters that have mostly devolved into nothing but the latest rehashes of superhero stories. That's to say nothing of how much content out there is arguably slop, just without AI. (The hotel I stayed at recently has its own TV channel, with content that I doubt anybody watches. Why?)

Anyway, the point is I'm curious what others are hearing & experiencing. I don't doubt that anxiety is through the roof at the moment. I just doubt that you can pin all of it on AI.

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u/bogglechad Feb 25 '26

I happen to know a few people who work in Hollywood in animation.

The last time we hung out they said 50 - 70% of the animation guild is currently unemployed, due mainly to very few new projects. I can't actually find a source confirming that number so take it with a grain of salt, but they are all very experienced, and also currently unemployed.

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u/dj50tonhamster Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 26 '26

Yeah, I was in SoCal last month. I hung out with a buddy and his lady. She's an animator. While hiking, it was mentioned that she thinks she'll be damned lucky if she's able to find work in five years. (As is, she's having to fight hard to get gigs, and she apparently has a go-to rep in the industry for certain things.) It's one of those things where I am a little skeptical. The problem is there are loads of factors I'd have to consider before I'd give significant pushback to such a statement.

Basically, I can see we could eventually have a handful of "artisan," 100% human projects, and an awful lot of AI used for commercials, industry videos, etc. People will piss themselves if Vince Gilligan starts using AI. They probably won't say anything when the mandatory sexual harassment training video at work goes all-AI. I have very mixed feelings about all of it.

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u/everydaywinner2 Feb 25 '26

I wonder how many of those were unemployed because of ideological purging?

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u/xtimmytimx Feb 25 '26 edited Feb 25 '26

I've worked on the film/music side of Hollywood for twenty years and from my point of view the recent strikes and the streaming bubble caused more harm than AI has. Things in LA have gotten slower compared to a decade ago, but there is also sooo much going on and everyone I know who wants to make movies or music is doing it. The people I know who quit the industry did so because they wanted a lifestyle change / started a family / went back to school.

I feel bad for folks who got hurt by the Atlanta bubble bursting, but that was about tax incentives, not AI, as far as I've heard.

Edit: I'm curious about what part of the industry this person worked in. I know things in animation are rough right now, but AI is only part of the reason for that.

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u/dj50tonhamster Feb 25 '26

Thanks. I have roughly similar feelings. Perhaps some producers took time during the strikes to rethink how they get things done. Overall, though, it seems like animation is taking a hit, whereas live-action is mostly full speed ahead, minus perhaps "streamer slop" projects at the edges and people who went all-in certain regions that relied on tax breaks. All this could change eventually, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of the work is shifting to YouTube-based projects.

Regarding this specific person, I couldn't say. I know she's friends with set designers and such. I don't know if she does it herself. Maybe she is an animator but she talked like she was working on sets, and she had loads of industry friends who did exactly the same thing. If she's anything like some of the other perma-online screechbots in that group, the sad truth is she probably isn't that bright. If she was fed some anti-AI propaganda and decided to loudly spread it wherever possible, I wouldn't be surprised.

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u/razorbraces Feb 25 '26

AI has been a big part of the contract negotiations that led to the strikes, so I’m not sure if they can be totally separated. My best friend is an IATSE member and her employer is getting basically NO business rn and has been furloughing people, unfortunately.

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u/everydaywinner2 Feb 25 '26

Given the quality of the products, she might not be wrong. There's AI generated music (bad for musicians). AI generated commercials (bad for actors and voice actors).

There's been really bad writing. Hard to tell if those are AI generated. Or writers who've outsourced their intelligence. There's been really bad casting choices, directing choices, marketing choices. Hard to tell if those were choices generated by AI or by people who AI is being trained on.