INSIDE LABOUR | How AI and the Hollywood strike show us that the business model is broken

This week's strike in Hollywood has thrown into sharp relief the fact that our global social and economic system, in its various forms, is no longer fit for purpose, writes Terry Bell. 

The past week has thrown into sharp relief the impact that the rapid advance of artificial intelligence (AI) is having — and will potentially have — on all our lives, now and into the future. But it does seem almost ironic that this fact has reached global attention because of the strike by thousands of Hollywood actors.

However, that strike followed an ongoing 75-day stoppage by the writers of Tinseltown. And their action was one of a number of labour actions, along with numerous smaller incidents on the labour front in several countries in recent months that could be traced back to this potential apogee of the fourth industrial revolution.