In my previous post, I mentioned that AI had written an episode of South Park (and animated, voiced, and edited as well). “Showrunner AI,” a technology developed by Fable Studios, was responsible for the simulation that created quite a stir among Hollywood writers already fearful of being replaced by robots.

If you missed the result, you can see it here:

I’ll admit that it’s an alarming jump – seeing a couple prompts churn out a complete 22-minute episode, bypassing writers, directors, animators, voice actors, editors, and colorists in the process. Rudimentary as the results may be, you get the sense of where things might be headed — and what Hollywood execs might do with such tech at their disposal.

Appearing in a panel at SXSW 23, Open AI co-founder Greg Brockman stated, “You think of today, where everyone watches the same TV show, and maybe people are still upset about the last season of Game of Thrones. Imagine if you could ask your AI to make a new ending that goes a different way, and maybe even put yourself in there as a main character or something.”

One can almost see the dollar signs lighting up in the eyes of corporate suits — let AI write the ending that’s most popular. That’s most profitable. Or better yet, let people choose their own ending — then make them pay to see it made.

In some ways, this thinking represents the ultimate democratization of the filmmaking process. Control is wrested from the showrunners of a series and handed over to the fanbase, who decide the ultimate outcome of the story and fates of its characters.

In other ways, it mirrors the decoupling of common truths witnessed through the rise of social media and proliferation of cults. Everyone gets their own version of what is fake and what is real — in this case, that includes outcomes of fiction.

“You think of today, where everyone watches the same TV show, and maybe people are still upset about the last season of Game of Thrones. Imagine if you could ask your AI to make a new ending that goes a different way, and maybe even put yourself in there as a main character or something.”

Greg brockman, president and co-founder, openai

Unnerving as the idea is, there might be a day when AI technology enables us to command the very soul of artistic works to fit our own personal whims. Whether such a thing is good or bad, avoidable or inevitable, is the topic of a deeper, perhaps more philosophical debate. All I can safely say is that, if that day should arise, the need for writers might diminish, but it won’t ever go away.

How can I be so sure?

Well, let’s take a closer look at the AI-generated South Park episode, “Westland Chronicles.” If you watch the episode, you’ll notice that while the AI is clearly understanding the characterizations and capable of crafting a logical plot, the irreverent spew of keen vulgarity and knifing self-awareness that defines South Park is absent. The AI understands and repeats existing motifs — in this instance, poking fun at the corporate ethics of “Bizney” with an out of control racist AI — but the writing feels a tad bit soulless. The jokes don’t land like they would in an actual South Park episode, and ultimately the viewer isn’t satisfied.

Sure, this is just an early prototype, and it’s certain to get more sophisticated both in script and artistic emulation. But will it ever rise to the level of Trey Parker and Matt Stone’s creation?

Ask yourself this. Could AI have come up with the idea to kill off one of the shows main characters in each episode? Possibly. But only if it had been trained to do so.

In other words, without first ingesting South Park, it’s highly unlikely an AI would have ever conceived of killing Kenny. And that’s because the AI we’re dealing with is not true AI as science fiction stories has lead us to understand. As I explained in my previous post, it’s what artificial intelligence experts term “narrow AI” — highly-evolved algorithms capable of incredible feats of generative work…

…provided they’ve been trained on it.

Would AI ever think to tell a joke like the Aristocrats on its own? Would it ever dream up the Knights Who Say “Ni!” or use “Frank Stallone” as the punchline for repeated jokes the way the late, great Norm Macdonald did on Saturday Night Live, if had not already been trained to do so by ingesting these works?

That spark of comedy genius, that off-the-wall joke that makes no sense and yet you still laugh at it — these are the things that narrow AI can’t and won’t ever be able to achieve. It has to originate with us — the creators. It has to be conceived before it can be co-opted. Dreamed up, before it can be delegated.

And that goes for all genres of writing, not just comedy. Yes, an AI could probably write a Transformers film or your average teen slasher flick. But it’s not going to get the nuances of the human soul like a gifted writer would, or understand the subtle effect of lighting choice by a seasoned cinematographer, or the impact of quick, jarring edits on the narrative, as a master editor like Dede Allen would.

Audiences instinctively know when they’re exposed to imitation. That isn’t to say they won’t accept it. Consumption of media is at an all-time high. In our high-speed, high-stress societies, people need distraction like they need air. And they will take whatever they can get, be it good or not.

The last thing any of us want is a dive into mediocrity.

The Showrunner AI presents a quick and easy way to generating show. But like any AI, it’s just a tool. And while South Park certainly doesn’t need its help to get make a great episode, an independent filmmaker, without the budget and resources and time to storyboard things out, might. Much like Youtube democratized video content, AI is going to democratize art in all its various forms. More accurately, it’s going to do for the film and television industry what word processors and self-publishing did for authors.

And that’s not a bad thing. Cause, you know…someone’s still got to kill Kenny.