Could AI Pen 'Casablanca'? Screenwriters Take Aim at ChatGPT

 

On May 2, 2023, in Los Angeles, members of The Writers Guild of America picket outside Fox Studios.

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Greg Brockman, the president and co-founder of OpenAI, the company that makes ChatGPT, recently praised the powers of artificial intelligence while quoting "Game of Thrones."

Imagine, he asked, if AI could be used to change the climax of that polarising finish. You might even audition for the show.

That is how entertainment will appear, Brockman predicted.

Hollywood is already experiencing widespread trepidation over generative artificial intelligence just six months after ChatGPT's introduction. Screenwriters for TV and films went to picket lines earlier this week, and one of the main causes was worry about chatbots composing or altering scripts.

Though the Writers Guild of America is on strike for better pay in a sector where streaming has overturned many of the established conventions, increased worry is being caused by AI.

The creator of "Empire" and "Dopesick," Danny Strong, declared that "AI is terrifying." "Now that I've read some of ChatGPT's writing, I can say that despite Chat being a bad writer, I'm not scared. But who can say? That might alter.

Screenwriters claim that AI chatbots may be used to generate a rough first draught with a few brief instructions ("a heist movie set in Beijing"). To finish it off, writers would subsequently be employed at a reduced wage.

Additionally, screenplays could be subtly created in the manner of well-known authors. How about a comedy with Nora Ephron as the voice actress? Or perhaps a gangster movie that evokes Mario Puzo? While "Casablanca" won't come close, the basic minimum of a subpar Liam Neeson thriller isn't completely impossible.

A writer is defined as a "person" in the WGA's fundamental agreement, and only a human's work can be protected by copyright. However, there are a variety of ways that regenerating AI may be used to create outlines, fill in scenes, and mockup draughts even though no one is going to see a "By AI" writers credit at the opening of a movie.

Michael Winship, head of the WGA East and a news and documentary writer, says, "We're not completely against AI. There are several uses for it. However, a lot of individuals are using it against us to breed mediocrity. Additionally, they are violating copyright. They also copywriting.

The guild wants stronger protections for screenwriting when using AI. The studios are allegedly obstinate about the situation. The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents production firms in negotiations, has promised to meet with the guild once a year to discuss definitions related to the rapidly changing technology.

The AMPTP stated in an account of the meeting that "it is something that needs a lot more discussion, which we have committed to doing."

The difficulty screenwriters are currently having with regenerative AI, according to experts, is just the beginning. In research released this week, the World Economic Forum predicted that over the next five years, AI will cause the loss of up to a quarter of all jobs.

"It's definitely a bellwether in the workers' response to the potential impacts of artificial intelligence on their work," asserts Sarah Myers West, managing director of the nonprofit AI Now Institute, which has pressed the government to adopt greater regulation around AI. It's not lost on me that many of the most significant initiatives in tech accountability have come through worker-led organizing.

The use of AI has already permeated almost every aspect of filmmaking. It's been used to remove obscenities and age-regress performers.

The Screen Actors Guild has stated that it is keenly monitoring the changing legal climate surrounding AI and is getting ready to start its own negotiations with the AMPTP this summer.

According to the actors union, "Human creators are the foundation of the creative industries, and we must ensure that they are respected and compensated for their work."

Screenwriting ramifications are still being investigated. A new scene from ChatGPT's "M(asterisk)A(asterisk)S(asterisk)H" was just read aloud by actors Alan Alda and Mike Farrell. The outcomes weren't awful, but they also weren't very amusing.

"When we already have studio executives who can do that, why have a robot write a script and attempt to understand human emotions?" Alda laughed dead.

In Hollywood, writers have a long history of being one of the most abused professions. Usually, the films they write don't get made. If they do, they are frequently rewritten numerous times. The very greatest thing Hollywood can possibly say to a writer is that he is too good to be simply a writer, according to Raymond Chandler.

Writers for films are used to getting replaced. They now perceive AI as a fresh, easily accessible, and affordable rival—albeit one with a marginally more solid understanding of human nature.

"Clearly, AI is unable to perform tasks that writers and humans can. However, I'm not sure if they genuinely believe it, says screenwriter Jonterri Gadson ("A Black Lady Sketchshow"). "A human writer needs to be in charge, but we're not trying,"

Making the WGA's predicament into a man versus machine drama certainly doesn't hurt their reputation. As worries about how hastily regenerative AI technologies have been introduced into society grow, the writers are grappling with the menace of AI.

AI pioneer Geoffrey Hinton recently quit Google to speak openly about the potential risks of the technology. According to Hinton, "It's hard to see how you can prevent the bad actors from using it for bad things," The New York Times.

According to actor-screenwriter Clark Gregg, "What's especially frightening about it is nobody, including a lot of the people who were involved with creating it, seem to be able to explain exactly what it's capable of and how quickly it will be capable of more."Believe that, undoubtedly,"

The authors are forced to negotiate on a brand-new technology that has the potential to have a revolutionary impact. Online distribution of AI-created music by "Fake Drake" or "Fake Eminem" is still going strong.

According to James Grimmelmann, a professor of digital and information law at Cornell University, "They're afraid that if the use of AI to do all this becomes normalized, then it becomes very hard to stop the train." The guild is in the position of attempting to envision numerous potential futures.

While this is going on, yelling protesters are waving banners at a digital adversary. "ChatGPT doesn't have childhood trauma," "I heard AI refuses to take notes," and, "Wrote ChatGPT this" were all observed on the picket lines.