Seth Rogen is 'distressed' that streaming companies are 'digging in on' using AI to write for TV, sharing support for the strike: 'Thank god for labor unions'

• Seth Rogen threw his support behind striking writers and echoed concerns over the use of AI in writing television shows.
• Rogen said you'd have to "shove a lot of weed" into an AI model to get it to write good-quality TV.

Seth Rogen said he is "distressed" by the way streaming services seem to be marching toward a future where television shows are written using artificial intelligence.

The actor and filmmaker called into question the quality of AI writing and criticized the companies pushing for it while speaking to IndiWire last week at a premiere for the Apple TV series "Platonic," which he stars in alongside Rose Byrne.

"I think the prospect of artificial intelligence writing things is horrifying," Rogen told the outlet, "and the fact that they seem to be digging in on [it] is more horrifying."

Some 10,000 writers in the Writers' Guild of America are now on strike as they negotiate a new deal with studios. Members of the guild previously told Insider they are worried about the threat of AI models like ChatGPT usurping writers as a cheaper substitute.

Rogen isn't convinced that the writing, much less the ethics, is any good. He told IndieWire that "you'd have to shove a lot of weed in that thing" to get it to write good television. He added that he supported the striking writers, who are demanding better wages to meet the rising cost of living, among other things.

"In general, the fact that these studios are able to kind of band together to drive down the wages of their workers is horrible. Thank god for labor unions. I think I've been in four unions for around 20 years. I'm always in favor of every strike that you can go on. Studios will never act fairly or equitably without being forced to," Rogen told IndieWire.

He added that he was "disturbed" by what he perceived as a shroud of secrecy around viewership ratings.

"I'm personally very disturbed and distressed by the lack of information that I personally get from these streaming services that we have films and television shows on," Rogen told the outlet. "I only assume they're being secretive because they don't want to let us know how much money they're making off us and how little of that money they're giving to us."