Sean Penn voices support for Hollywood writers

Voicing his support to the ongoing writers' strike in Hollywood, actor Sean Penn said it was a "human obscenity" that studios were not taking seriously concerns over artificial intelligence. 

Speaking at the Cannes Film Festival, he said: "It is the industry that's been upending the writers and the actors and directors for a very, very long time. My full support in this situation is with the writers guild of course."

He said, "There are a lot of new concepts that are being tossed about, including the use of AI (to write scripts). It strikes me as a human obscenity for there to be any pushback on that from the producers."

The strike kicked off on May 3 after negotiations broke down between the Writers Guild of America and major US studios, with writers demanding better compensation after the disruption caused by streaming and fears over the increasing use of AI.

"The first thing we should do in this conversation is change the Producers Guild and title them how they behave, which is the Bankers Guild," Penn said.

The strike has been a hot topic at the festival.

According to AFP,  Penn has long been an outspoken activist and runs a disaster relief organisation overseeing a huge testing and vaccination programme during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

He and young star Tye Sheridan ("Ready Player One") spent many hours riding along with New York paramedics for the no holds barred look at their profession in "Black Flies".

Asked about the state of the US health system, Penn said it was "a racket".

"We saw it every night -- you collect bodies to bring in and you hear the ching-ching of insurance and money changing hands for everybody but those they're taking it from," he said.