In the United States, there is no universal rule that lets every artist or writer refuse an employer’s instruction to use generative AI—or that lets every employer require it. The answer depends on the worker’s jurisdiction, contract, union coverage, and what the employer is asking them to do. One clear, specific protection applies to writers performing work covered by the Writers Guild of America’s Minimum Basic Agreement: WGA guidance says a company cannot require them to use AI software for that covered writing.
Using an AI tool, editing AI-generated material, allowing a worker’s work to train a model, and creating a digital replica of a worker’s voice or likeness are different requests. They can raise different contract, bargaining, copyright, consent, and compensation issues. This is a general U.S.-focused overview, not a legal determination for an individual workplace or project.
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Start by identifying what the employer is requiring
“Use AI” can describe several materially different instructions. Before deciding whether you can refuse, pin down the requested act and the material involved.
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- Operate a tool: for example, use a generative AI service to draft, brainstorm, illustrate, or edit.
- Work with generated material: revise, select, or incorporate text or images supplied by the employer or generated by someone else.
- Provide work for training: allow the employer or another party to use your existing or commissioned work as model-training material.
- Permit a synthetic replica: use or reproduce your voice, likeness, performance, or other personal attributes through AI.
A direction to use a tool does not, by itself, establish permission to train a model on your work or create a replica of you. Read the relevant agreement and policy for each request rather than treating them as one blanket AI permission.
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When WGA protections apply to covered writers
The Writers Guild of America East says: “But the company can’t require the writer to use AI software (e.g., ChatGPT) when performing writing services.” WGA West gives similar guidance for work covered by the MBA. The WGA’s 2026 MBA FAQ says the agreement preserves the AI protections negotiated in 2023.
This protection is tied to covered writing services and the applicable agreement. It is not a general rule for every U.S. writer, freelance creator, visual artist, designer, or worker at an employer that is not bound by the relevant agreement. A writer may choose to use AI on covered work if the company agrees and the writer follows applicable company policies.
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The 2026 MBA FAQ also describes written notice to the Guild if a company licenses writers’ work to train a commercial generative AI system to create outputs. The Guild can request discussion of the license, including remuneration. That is a Guild notice and discussion provision; it should not be read as a general individual opt-out right.
How union bargaining may matter outside the WGA
For U.S. private-sector employees represented by a union, the National Labor Relations Board explains that employers generally must bargain in good faith with the union over mandatory subjects of bargaining. Employers may also be barred from making certain unilateral changes in working conditions before bargaining or without required agreement. Whether a particular AI instruction is a bargainable change depends on the facts, the agreement, and the nature of the decision. Some operational decisions are not themselves mandatory subjects, even though their effects on represented employees may be bargainable.
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Union membership does not automatically mean an individual worker can disregard an instruction. Check the applicable agreement and grievance process, and ask the union representative whether the employer gave required notice, whether bargaining is implicated, and which provision applies.
What the agreement and the kind of AI request change
| Situation | What may be relevant | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| WGA MBA-covered writing services | WGA guidance says a company cannot require the writer to use AI software for covered writing services. | Whether the writer, employer, project, and services are covered by the applicable MBA; company policies; and any rules for voluntary AI use. |
| Other union-represented work | Union bargaining duties and the applicable collective agreement may govern changes to work methods or related working conditions. No blanket AI-specific result follows from union status alone. | Terms on tools, methods, staffing, pay, credits, disclosure, training, replicas, management rights, notice, and grievance procedures. |
| Nonunion employee or contractor | The employment or services agreement, workplace policy, governing law, and the specific instruction matter. The sources summarized here do not establish a blanket right to refuse AI use for these workers. | Worker classification and governing jurisdiction, contract terms, AI policy, confidentiality obligations, ownership and license language, and any consent requirements. |
| Work supplied for model training | Training rights are distinct from an instruction to operate a tool. The applicable contract or collective agreement may address licensing, notice, bargaining, or compensation. | What work is being used, by whom, for what purpose, under what license, and whether notice, consent, bargaining, or payment is required. |
| Voice, likeness, or synthetic performance | Specific union-contract terms may govern notice, consent, compensation, reuse, and bargaining. Rights and obligations depend on the agreement and context. | Whether a replica is being made or reused, the permitted uses, duration, compensation, consent, and applicable performance agreement. |
Copyright ownership is a separate question from whether AI use can be required
The U.S. Copyright Office’s January 29, 2025 release of Part 2 of its AI report addresses when AI-assisted material can qualify for copyright. It says prompts alone do not supply sufficient human authorship. Human-authored expression perceptible in an output, or a person’s creative arrangement or modification, can support copyright protection; AI assistance or including AI-generated material in a larger human-authored work does not automatically rule protection out.
That authorship analysis does not decide whether an employer can direct a worker to use a tool, who owns a commissioned result, or whether existing work may be used as training data. Check the contract’s ownership, work-made-for-hire, license, confidentiality, and AI-disclosure terms separately.
Performances and digital replicas need separate attention
SAG-AFTRA says reuse of recorded performances is limited by collectively bargained contract provisions, including consent and compensation terms. In a 2025 statement, it said signatory producers must comply with contractual obligations requiring notice and bargaining when a synthetic performer will be used. The precise protection depends on the applicable agreement and circumstances.
For performers, distinguish an instruction to operate an AI tool from the use of AI-generated material, training on a performer’s recordings or other work, and creation or reuse of a digital replica. The last categories may implicate rights beyond ordinary tool instructions. Do not assume permission to use a tool also authorizes use of your image, voice, performance, or prior work.
What the international examples do—and do not—establish
The European Commission’s AI Act FAQ describes obligations for providers of general-purpose AI models, including copyright-compliance policies and transparency about training content. Those provider obligations do not establish a general employee right to refuse an employer’s AI instruction; employment questions require analysis under the relevant national law and agreements.
Other country-specific materials should not be generalized into a global rule. A Colombian Decree 658 of 2026 text surfaced in a legal repository addresses AI in artistic and cultural employment, including creative autonomy, personal rights, copyright, changes to agreed functions, and authorization for certain uses of image or voice. Its official publication and current legal status are not established here, so workers in Colombia should verify those points through authoritative local sources before relying on the text.
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A New York State Senate page describes proposed bill S8451A language concerning news-media workers and training on work product. The available information does not establish that the proposal became law. It should not be treated as a current legal protection without checking its legislative status.
Quick Recap
A practical way to assess an AI instruction
- Identify governing law: determine the country and state whose law governs the employment or services relationship.
- Clarify your status and coverage: establish whether you are an employee, contractor, freelancer, or represented worker, and whether a collective agreement covers this employer, project, and task. Labels in a contract may not settle legal classification.
- Define the requested act: ask whether you are being directed to operate a tool, revise generated material, supply work for training, or permit a voice or likeness replica.
- Read the governing documents: review the employment or services contract, collective agreement, workplace AI policy, and relevant work-made-for-hire, license, confidentiality, consent, and disclosure provisions.
- Check procedural rights: look for requirements concerning notice, bargaining, consent, credit, compensation, or human review. If union-represented, ask your representative which terms and grievance procedures apply.
- Keep a record: preserve the written instruction and applicable policy. If the dispute remains unresolved, consult your union representative or qualified local employment or intellectual-property counsel.
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