The WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes have taken over Hollywood. After 60 years, the writers and actors have come together to fight against the production houses. The issues of fair contracts and the looming threats of AI entering into business are the major concerns. While Hollywood celebrities, writers, and everyone concerned are opening up about it, a 2013 film predicted this exact scenario.

Sci-fi movies are to take viewers into an unknown world and give them a fantastic experience. However, this film gave them a prediction that the entire industry is currently facing. The forgotten film, The Congress, depicted this threat of artificial intelligence, and how it would take over everything. Written and directed by Ari Folman, the film is actually loosely based on the 1971 sci-fi novel The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem. Folman added artificial intelligence in Hollywood. This movie foresaw the actors losing control of their image rights, writers getting replaced by artificial intelligence, and the dark picture of Hollywood, as BBC pointed out.

There are many scenes in the film that directly talk about these topics of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. For instance, in a scene, Jeff Green (Danny Huston) asks Robin Wright to let them scan her background image and use them in their productions. Although her lawyer warns Wright, she successfully negotiates. This is one of the major points that the actors are currently concerned about. The studios want actors’ images for their productions. Making the actors feel like losing control, the film already depicted how it turns out for the actors.

Apart from this, in a scene, Green also tells Wright a chemical would replace the actors. And this artificial intelligence would give the audience a real experience. Moreover, he also tells Wright about how AI would take over the industry by replacing writers and animators. Another real-life issue that the industry is facing currently.

What more the 2013 movie predicted about AI in the industry?

While these current strikes are affecting the studios more day by day, the studios are not ready to negotiate with the WGA and SAG-AFTRA heads. Meanwhile, The Congress faithfully depicted the success of AI taking over the industry. It shows the struggles between fiction and reality. This is not the first time any film predicted the use of artificial intelligence.

Once the 7-time Mr. Olympia title winner Arnold Schwarzenegger also opened up about how his Terminator movie also predicted the significance of artificial intelligence. But The Congress is different in the sense that it has turned into an entirely real-life scenario.

Although the strikes have been going on for a long time now, it is actually affecting many productions. Until the SAG-AFTRA and WGA come to an agreement with the studios, tell us if you have already watched the film, The Congress. Do you think the 2013 movie indeed predicted the accurate future? Share your thoughts in the comments below.