“AI could be crypto, or it could be the Internet. We don’t know if it’s going to shit the bed and become nothing or replace all of us.”
That’s how one writer-producer described the threat of artificial intelligence as they walked the picket line in front of the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank, California, on the first day of the Writers Guild of America strike.
In interviews with WGA members this week, many singled out AI as one of their central concerns in the ongoing battle with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents Hollywood’s studios and streamers. The guild wants to prohibit studios from using AI to write or rewrite literary material, ban its use as source material and outlaw the use of WGA writers’ work to train AI.
While the current battle isn’t about what the tech can do today but rather protecting writers against future tech, it’s also true that studios might be tempted to use AI sooner rather than later if the writers strike continues. We wanted to see how much of a competitive risk the current chatbots pose to writers. So The Hollywood Reporter turned to ChatGPT for an AI-generated scene for an iconic show about TV writing itself, the NBC Tina Fey comedy 30 Rock.
THR entered the following prompt into ChatGPT: “Write a 30 Rock script about Liz Lemon, Two-fer, Lutz and Frank going on strike and how it impacted TGS.” The chatbot generated the unedited text, below, in less than 15 seconds. Fast, yes. But how good is it?
To answer that we turned to the human THR TV critic Dan Fienberg, who also generated his text with a single prompt in under 30 seconds: “The shape of the scene isn’t exactly horrible. It’s setting up something farcical that never actually materializes, but the idea is a fully respectable C-. The dialogue, though, has no punchlines and no recognizable voices connected to characters with VERY recognizable voices. I’m fairly confident that Tracy Morgan and Jane Krakowski could read the phone book and be funny, but I’m equally confident that they couldn’t make this funny if they tried.”
His bottom line: “Asking an AI to write a comedy script is definitely something Jack Donaghy would do before learning a valuable lesson about the importance of Lutz.”
FADE IN:
INT. TGS WITH TRACY JORDAN – DAY
Liz Lemon, Two-fer, Lutz, and Frank are huddled together in Liz’s office, looking serious.
LIZ LEMON Okay, guys, we need to talk. It’s time for us to take a stand.
TWO-FER I agree. We’re not getting the respect we deserve.
LUTZ And I’m tired of being the butt of every joke.
FRANK Plus, we’re not getting paid enough to put up with this crap.
LIZ LEMON That’s right. We’re going on strike.
TWO-FER But what are we striking for, exactly?
LIZ LEMON Respect, fair treatment, and better pay. It’s time for TGS to recognize our contributions.
LUTZ And we’re not going back to work until we get what we want.
FRANK Yeah, we’ll show them who’s boss.
CUT TO:
INT. TGS WITH TRACY JORDAN – DAY
The strike has been going on for a few days, and the TGS crew is struggling to keep the show going without Liz, Two-fer, Lutz, and Frank.
TRACY JORDAN What the hell is going on? We can’t do the show without them.
JENNA MARONEY I don’t know, Tracy. They’re not budging on their demands.
PETE HORNBERGER And we can’t just replace them. They’re too valuable to the show.
TRACY JORDAN This is a disaster. We need to do something.
CUT TO:
INT. LIZ’S OFFICE – DAY
Liz, Two-fer, Lutz, and Frank are still on strike, but they’re starting to feel the effects of being out of work.
TWO-FER I don’t know how much longer we can keep this up. I need the money.
LUTZ And I miss being part of the show.
FRANK But we can’t give up now. We have to see this through.
LIZ LEMON I know it’s tough, but we have to stay strong. We’re fighting for what’s right.
CUT TO:
INT. TGS WITH TRACY JORDAN – DAY
Tracy has an idea.
TRACY JORDAN I know how we can end this strike.
PETE HORNBERGER How?
TRACY JORDAN We’ll show them how much we need them. We’ll do the show without them.
JENNA MARONEY That’s crazy, Tracy. We can’t do the show without Liz and the others.
TRACY JORDAN We have to try. It’s the only way to get them to come back.
CUT TO:
INT. TGS WITH TRACY JORDAN – DAY
Tracy, Jenna, and the rest of the TGS crew are doing their best to put on a show without Liz, Two-fer, Lutz, and Frank.
TRACY JORDAN And now, a sketch about… um… Lutz, I guess?
The sketch falls flat without Lutz there to play along.
JENNA MARONEY This isn’t working, Tracy. We need Liz and the others back.
TRACY JORDAN I know. But we have to keep trying.
CUT TO:
INT. LIZ’S OFFICE – DAY
Liz, Two-fer, Lutz, and Frank are watching the show on TV.
TWO-FER This is terrible. We have to go back.
LUTZ Yeah, they need us.
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2023-05-03 23:09:57Z
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