On the Above the Line site , scooper Jeff Sneider reports that, according to several sources.
the studios are seriously exploring the possibility of using artificial intelligence for writing scripts based on novels and other public domain intellectual property. Apparently, lists of potential titles are making the rounds of the studios.
Obviously, the use of AI for creative writing is one of the hottest topics in the bargaining between the Writers Guild of America , the screenwriters union currently on strike, and the studios. The WGA would like to regulate the use of artificial intelligence to prevent it being treated like a screenwriter. The basic idea is that, in case a screenwriter uses an artificial intelligence as an aid to write a script, the (human) screenwriter is always considered the only author of the script itself. This is whether a screenwriter draws a script from a story or material written by an AI, or a studio asks a screenwriter to clean up and fix an entire script written by an AI.
For this reason, the studios are considering having artificial intelligence develop the first draft of a possible script taken from public domain intellectual property, to then hire screenwriters to finish the job once the strike is over.
The problem here is that the WGA could not be happy if the studios decided to entrust all the preliminary drafts of the scripts to the AI in the future. The reason is simple: in Hollywood it is customary to have a script rewritten several times before going into production. And at each rewrite step, the writers get paid. If studios decide to save money by outsourcing AI drafts, that would mean less money for writers. A point on which the WGA would hardly be willing to give up.
Certainly the debate around artificial intelligence is heated and extremely important: there are those who seriously fear that the future could reserve us a Terminator -like scenario , in which AI will learn to manipulate us and take control of the world ( Geoffrey Hinton , the so-called “godfather of AI”, he left Google on purpose to warn the whole world of the dangers of artificial intelligence), others instead see it as an excellent tool to assist the screenwriter in his work (for example Joe Russo ). One thing is certain: AI is the future, and we need to understand how to manage it.