Sean Astin can blend into the background when he wants to, but I spotted the 54-year-old actor’s unmistakable smile and twinkling eyes that carried me through the Lord of the Rings trilogy inexplicably in the middle of CES 2026 Central Hall. He was surrounded by what I thought were fans of his many roles on TV and screen (LTR, Stranger Things, Goonies), but, as I approached, I saw an intense discussion and guessed it was all about AI.
Astin attended CES in his position as SAG-AFTRA President, along with a contingent of about 20 staff members, to suss out the current state of AI development and products and what that might mean for the organization’s 160,000 members of actors, broadcasters, dancers, hosts, recording artists, stunt performers, and other creative professionals.
Why is Sean Astin at CES?
It might seem incongruous for Samwise Gamgee or Drew Barrymore’s loving yet clueless brother from 50 First Dates to be acting as a labor leader and spokesperson for one of the US’s more valuable and arguably important industries, but Astin also has a degree in History in American Literature and Culture, and a Master’s in Public Administration and Public Policy. Having the context of history and the understanding of governance surely comes in handy at this crucial moment, and using those tools and the expanse of the world’s largest trade show to make sense of all of it is sort of genius.
“Issues surrounding AI are really important to our members. So, making sure we kind of have a command of what we’re talking about when I came into CES; I actually was sort of mission-focused.”
CES is a big show, but this year it’s almost as if the thousands of companies are all speaking with one voice and saying the same phrase: AI. Yet, the implementation of artificial intelligence is as varied as the companies and people behind them. How did Astin get a handle on it, sift through the forest to find the digital trees? He used AI, of course.
Astin told me he used AI to help him sort through the materials, to prepare for the task, feeding that data into the AI, and he said, without mentioning the specific AI platform, then communicating with it to evaluate and understand the 2.5 million square feet of convention space.
“What it helped me do was kind of refine what my mission was for the two or three days that I was navigating this space.”
Put another way, Astin isn’t afraid to meet the enemy on its own turf, especially when it can help him accomplish a critical task.
The mission, though, didn’t leave him much time to simply wander and enjoy the booths. “I was engaging with companies that do things like, you know, provenance, data, protection, and stuff like that.”
Diving this deep into the beating AI heart of CES was, in one way, to acknowledge its existence.
“There’s a moment at which, well, I see things all of civilization needs to be paying attention to it. But my focus as a labor leader is to figure out the point at which it crosses over as an entertainment or as a business…and moves into our area where it affects our members and their name image and likeness and their – the things where we have jurisdiction over covering and so forth,” explained Astin.
Bracing and preparing for the coming AI storm
With rapid advances in generative models driving the creation of convincing AI voices, images, and actors (hello, Tilly Norwood), it’s been a busy 12 months in AI and entertainment, and Astin, who’s only been SAG-AFTRA President for four months, has been tracking it all.
“When Disney invests a billion dollars into OpenAI or Amazon, 10 billion, or there’s new levels of functionality, a realism in kind of open products that are available to the public…that really pose an existential threat to our organization or even, an uncertain threat, we have to react and understand and keep moving,” he said.
You would think that SAG-AFTRA’s relatively short 3-year contract bargaining cycles would align with the pace of AI development, but that’s clearly not the case.
We have to react, understand, and keep moving.
Astin talked to me about how they have to prepare for this moment, despite how quickly things have changed since the last bargaining cycle, when his group first addressed the existential threat posed by AI.
“We knew, when we were achieving certain language in our last agreement, which was foundational, new, novel stuff about different guardrails and things, that…it would be out of date,” he told me.
SAG-AFTRA and its members now face “a whole new array of challenges and dynamics,” said Astin.
To understand how to address those challenges and build into the next contract the necessary language and protections, Astin had to travel to CES in Las Vegas to understand the AI state of play.
This is not just a conversation about movie stars
While much of the conversation about AI and actors seems to revolve around deep fakes of mostly big-named stars, anyone who’s seen up close how AI affects an industry knows that it’s often entry-level jobs and less high-profile positions that are at risk.
“Voiceover stuff, I think, is really imperiled at the moment, and we’re doing everything we can not just in bargaining but also from a public policy perspective,” explained Astin.
SAG-AFTRA is working on incorporating legal language that helps protect these creative workers, but its work in this space could have wider implications.
“Every industry in America is going through this, but I think we’re kind of in the forefront, because it’s such a visible usurpation of our work.”
The work is hard, with dozens of meetings, pitches, proposals, and working with communities like stunt workers to figure out how to protect their ideas and images.
Every industry in America is going through this, but I think we’re kind of in the forefront, because it’s such a visible usurpation of our work.
Another area of significant concern is background actors. AI is certainly adept at creating almost Non-Player Characters (NPCs) for content, and that could imperil background actors’ work and opportunities.
“Within our contract, there’s rules that a certain number of the background actors, for example, have to be hired within the union,…So if a digital replica is created, and it ends up fulfilling what would be 10 of those roles,” 10 human actors still have to be compensated in some way (like the contribution to their pension health plan).
While Astin acknowledges that this is an exciting frontier space, he also told me that “a healthy chunk of our membership is anti AI.”
AI made CES inevitable for Astin
These members are demanding that SAG-AFTRA force entertainment companies to behave in a certain way when it comes to AI, but to do that, SAG-AFTRA and more specifically, Sean Astin, the group’s chief spokesperson, must understand AI.
“Ultimately, you know, we have to be – I’m here at CES.. because…the moment demands that I be here.”
It’s perhaps the scale of what we’re all navigating in this AI age that is most astonishing and something Astin is clearly grappling with.
“This is an unbelievable moment in the course of human history. There have been certain moments, you know, the development of the wheel, the Industrial Revolution, and the advent of certain medical technologies, [and] transportation. This is one of them. This is one of the most impactful timesin all of human history.”
I asked Astin if he’s feeling net positive about where things are heading.
This is an unbelievable moment in the course of human history.
For now, he noted that the free-floating concern is about work displacement. “I don’t know that I’m optimistic or pessimistic about that. “
There are, though, some things Astin knows.
“I think it’s an absolute certainty that the workforce is going to be injured by this advancement in this technology.”
Astin also believes that the creative urge will not evaporate because of AI.
“The fact that there are people in my line of work who want to act, who want to make music, who want to direct movies and television, who want to produce them? They’re not going to stop doing that work because a technology is here, and I think because they’re passionate about it, the audiences will always be there.”
TechRadar has been extensively covering this year’s CES, and is bringing you all of the big announcements as they happen. Head over to our CES 2026 news page for the latest stories and our hands-on verdicts on everything from wireless TVs and foldable displays to new phones, laptops, smart home gadgets, and the latest in AI.
And don’t forget to follow us on TikTok and WhatsApp for the latest from the CES show floor!
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/XMcyMEvLQwfFUKoQqZA2mH-1920-80.jpg
Source link
lance.ulanoff@futurenet.com (Lance Ulanoff)
