IATSE Names Jillian Arnold Its First Labor and Technology Intelligence Officer to Cover AI Bargaining, Reskilling and Policy

IATSE hired former Local 695 president Jillian Arnold as its first labor and technology intelligence officer. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the role puts her inside contract negotiations, reskilling programs, and state and federal AI policy work. Arnold said the union wants to be "a part of the deployment and integration of any AI within our craft so that we make tools that are for workers, not displacing workers."

• A dedicated tech role for a 170,000-plus member union. Arnold keeps the crew union current on technological developments and works to protect workers across a jurisdiction spanning the U.S. and Canada.
• Contract proposals come first. Her top priority is proposals for the Basic and ASA agreements ahead of the union's next negotiations.
• Training starts with local leaders. IATSE rolled out a class teaching Local leadership how to talk to members about AI.
• Crew can argue for analog workflows. A 2024 consultation provision lets members discuss AI use with an employer before employment begins.
• No model endorsements. Asked about ethically trained models, Arnold said IATSE is not endorsing any model.

Arnold comes from the crew side and chaired IATSE's first AI bargaining subcommittee

Arnold is a video engineer and former cinematographer whose credits include NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover landing and Juno mission, plus live broadcasts of the Oscars, the Emmys and the MTV Video Music Awards.

In 2020 she became the first woman and first video engineer elected president of IATSE Local 695, the sound, video and projection local, in the local's history. She won a second term in 2023.

That same year, as leadership prepared for bargaining, the union formed its first AI and emerging technologies subcommittee. IATSE leadership, including President Matthew Loeb, chose Arnold to chair it, and she was one of the negotiators in the 2024 talks with the AMPTP.

She kept working part-time with the International while still in the field. After Loeb told her he wanted to start a tech department, she retired from video engineering to take the role.

Loeb called her "a leader on artificial intelligence and its impact on the labor movement," and the union's leadership page lists her as Labor & Technology Intelligence Officer.

Contract proposals, member training and legislation top her list

Arnold described how each priority works in practice:

• Bargaining. She works with business agents on the Basic and ASA agreements so the union has good proposals to bring to the table.
• Education. Alongside work with the IATSE education department, she is talking to potential education partners about upskilling and reskilling members.
• Policy. She handles state legislation, and works with IATSE's political department on federal legislation as it comes up.

According to TheWrap's report, Arnold will bridge the growing role of technology in the workplace and IATSE's commitment to ensuring that productions "remain authentically made by humans."

The job spans members in the U.S. and those represented through IATSE Canada. "Companies that employ members on both sides of the border may choose to deploy certain AI technologies in different jurisdictions but not in others," IATSE director of Canadian affairs John M. Lewis said.

Arnold tied the role to the union's history with new technology. Local 695 was founded because sound came to motion pictures.

"IATSE members by nature are entrepreneurs," she said, adding that members helped develop and integrate much of the technology the union has adopted over its history.

A 2024 consultation clause lets crew argue for analog workflows

In a statement quoted by Variety, which places the hire among new tech roles at Disney, Amazon MGM and Lionsgate, Arnold said workers need "a meaningful voice in determining how technologies are developed and integrated into the workplace."

She wants members to understand employer AI policies and their existing contract provisions, and to "engage in it ethically, think critically about its use and how it's going to be deployed in the workplace."

Arnold said members can use the consultation to argue for an analog workflow, since some are considered more economical and produce "a unique, copyrightable solution."

"AI models may not always be the best tool for the job," she said, noting copyright matters both to the employers who own the intellectual property and to crew.

Arnold said leadership has identified "first wave" crafts and is engaging with them, but declined to name them without a data set to back it up. She said the union's bargaining approach will take shape through committee work on member proposals.