The creator of the popular Netflix sci-fi series, Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker, has experimented with AI-generated screenplays with less than stellar results. Brooker prompted chatbot technology ChatGPT to compose an episode of the show, which resulted in a mishmash of existing episode synopses with no original thought. As with any Black Mirror episode, the issue is not with the technology itself but with the person using it. The writer and producer used the experience to learn what not to do in future episodes and subvert viewers’ expectations for the upcoming sixth season.
Black Mirror, known for exploring techno-paranoia and the effects of AI on society, returns from a four-year hiatus with a star-studded cast that includes Salma Hayek, Aaron Paul, Kate Mara, Zazie Beetz, and Annie Murphy. Brooker tries a new approach to the show with cinematic presentations and deliberately upending his own assumptions about what’s coming in each episode. There will still be a dystopian setting, but Black Mirror will stretch the parameters, according to Brooker.
This change in direction is timely given the ongoing writers’ strike in Hollywood, which AI could alleviate, but not replace, to have the bot expedite their work. The technology’s use, however, has caused controversy with writers fighting to protect their jobs from being taken over by AI. The test shows that entering basic prompts is insufficient for producing viable results, and any such AI’s use should be only to ease a writer’s workflow.
