SAG-AFTRA Sits on UCLA Symposium Panel

SAG-AFTRA Executive Director, Entertainment Contracts Olga Rodriguez-Aguirre spoke on the Future of Work and Health panel on April 15, 2025. The panel was part of the 2025 UCLA Research Symposium, which was themed “Shaping the Future of Work Through Research and Technology.”

The panel asked each speaker to highlight different worker populations and the key issues they face with emerging technologies, as well as the action steps being taken to mitigate those issues. Rodriguez-Aguirre discussed SAG-AFTRA’s ongoing work through its recent contract negotiations to introduce guardrails against artificial intelligence misuse.

She also gave insight into details of California Assembly Bill 412, or the A.I. Copyright Transparency Act. The bill, which passed the Assembly Consumer Protection and Privacy Committee, addresses transparency and consent concerns regarding A.I. in the entertainment industry and seeks to provide copyright owners with protocols to obtain information about how their work is obtained and used to train A.I. models and tools.

Other panel speakers included MURP Legal and Policy Research Manager, UCLA Labor Center Tia Koonse; UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and School of Nursing Dr. Jian Li; University of California Riverside Faculty Co-Director, UCR Inland Empire Labor & Community Center Ellen Reese; and Healthy Work Campaign Director Dr. Marnie Dobson.

The 2025 UCLA Research Symposium is a multifaceted event that explores the future of work through technological advancements, medicine and health care, and its greater impact on society.

Photo: SAG-AFTRA Executive Director, Entertainment Contracts Olga Rodriguez-Aguirre with fellow “Future of Work and Health” panelists at the 2025 UCLA Research Symposium on April 15, 2025. Photo courtesy of UCLA.