Netflix is hiring for a six-figure AI role (Picture: AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
A Netflix job listing has sparked immense backlash as it offers up to $900,000 for an AI manager role.
This comes as Hollywood actors have joined writers on strike after weeks of unsccessful negotiations.
Months after the Writers Guild of America (WGA) began their strike, members of US union Sag-Aftra have followed suit, while stars across the globe have shown solidarity including the cast of Oppenheimer left the UK premiere early to ‘write their picket signs’.
Elsewhere, Orange Is The New Black stars came forward with claims they were not paid fairly for their time, and Gilmore Girls actor Sean Gunn spoke out against Netflix.
But the streaming service is now offering a hefty sum to one individual.
The ‘product manager’ position is to increase the ‘leverage’ of their machine learning platform, which offers ‘ML/AI practitioners across Netflix the means to achieve the highest possible impact with their work by making it easy to develop, deploy and improve their machine-learning models.’
The listing notes: ‘The overall market range for roles in this area of Netflix is typically $300,000 – $900,000.’
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Comedian Rob Delaney has hit out at the streaming site, calling the listing ‘ghoulish’.
He said: ‘So $900k/yr per soldier in their godless AI army when that amount of earnings could qualify thirty-five actors and their families for SAG-AFTRA health insurance is just ghoulish.’
Rob recently starred in the Joan Is Awful episode of Charlie Brooker’s Black Mirror, which saw Joan – played by Annie Murphy – discover her life has shockingly been developed into a huge adaptation, all because she didn’t read the small print for Streamberry (aka, Netflix).
He continued to The Intercept: ‘Having been poor and rich in this business, I can assure you there’s enough money to go around; it’s just about priorities.’
It’s been compared to an episode of Black Mirror (Picture: Nick Wall/Netflix)
Social media users and those showing solidarity with the writers and stars striking are just as frustrated.
One wrote: ‘honestly so surprised the wga strike has lasted this long!!! it’s so nerve wracking to witness execs holding off from basic demands….and the audacity of that 900k ai job at Netflix.’
Another said: ‘Netflix has listed a job for an AI Product Manager with a salary of up to $900,000 during the #WritersStrike As every day passes we’re becoming closer to Black Mirror becoming reality.’
Star Trek: Picard writer Christopher Derrick added: ‘Netflix Posts $900,000 AI product manager As SAG & WGA Strike For Fair Pay & Protections Against AI Talk about tone deafness, FFS!’
This comes after Succession star Brian Cox shared his distaste at the idea of AI taking over and writing shows.
‘It’s a situation that could really get unpleasant and it could go on for quite some time,’ he told Sky News.
Brian Cox has spoken out about AI being used (Picture: PA)
Brian also recounted a recent situation where AI was attempted to be used and warned it’s not a good replacement for actual writers if the strikes do continue.
‘There was a whole lot of AI suggesting what I would do which was absolute nonsense. It was a kind of jokey thing anyway, but I found it really extraordinary that they made up this scenario that doesn’t exist and has nothing to do with who I am,’ he recalled.
Brian also warned about AI: ‘It’s the bogeyman,’ before adding ‘especially when you’re going on a strike, especially when you’re striking certain issues’.
‘The streaming services could easily go to create AI, which would be nonsense and there would never be an original voice.
‘You would never have an original Jesse Armstrong [Succession creator] or the original guy who created the White Lotus [Mike White]. It just wouldn’t exist.
‘There would be some monkey copy of the show, and that is unacceptable,’ he concluded.
Metro.co.uk has approached Netflix for comment.
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It’s been compared to an episode of Black Mirror.
