AI vs Humans

                                                                                                 

 Dominic Miller 

  11/4/23

Sonya Fix

  

  Screenwriting 

                                                       Artificial Intelligence (AI) vs Humans

Why does emotion in writing matter ? It helps the viewer become invested in whatever they're watching, creating a connection to the characters and story. In the article “ How films make us feel emotion” by the SLFS (Salt Lake Film Society) The authors discuss the importance of emotion in storytelling, it stated  that “Emotions are a vital aspect of the storytelling ability that a movie has. Emotions are also vital characteristics of the larger human experience; they are a fundamental part of what makes us sentient, complex creatures.” AI is a useful tool to help generate ideas. For example, just to list a few things AI can assist you with helping create outlines, interview questions, suggestions for titles, or brainstorming introductions. Plagiarism and copyright have been an issue though when working with these AI systems. A person using an AI system must ensure that the content generated is original and does not infringe on someone else's copyright. AI isn’t capable of taking screenwriters jobs for it lacks the most important part of writing, emotion.

For example in the article “AI Generated Script: How We Made a Movie by an AI Script Writer” by Jacob Vaus and Eli Weiss they’ve attached a youtube link to an AI written film called “Date Night Short Film”.When I compared films written by AI to films written by humans I found AI to be cliche and have predictable dialogue. It also struggles with repetitive word use, creating stories that are nonsensical.. 

AI struggles when asked to write long action sequences, as it's known to use repetitive words and same sentences. This is because it's operated by data and algorithms that can’t replicate human writing craft and emotions.. The article  “Will AI replace screenwriters?: 8 reasons AI can’t write good scripts' ' by Infocus Film School states “AI’s algorithmic nature limits its ability to grasp the emotional and ethical dimensions of storytelling. '' AI can't be emotionally attached to storytelling because of the way its algorithm is created. Having the ability to create emotion in stories is what draws people in. Although AI has proven it can create content faster and cheaper than humans, movies taking too long to release isn’t an issue we face as viewers, it's the quality and outcome of the film. And while AI can create a larger quantity of content faster, scripts by humans will contribute to a better overall quality film. And I believe that’s what really matters for viewers. Current versions are prone to make mistakes and produce inaccurate information. 

Back in May of this year the Writers Guild of America (WGA) went on strike outside the Sunset Bronson Studios in Los Angeles, California. The strike lasted 148 days until coming to an agreed 3 year contract that runs from September 25th, 2023 through May 31st, 2026. One of the negotiated points the contract agreed on was establishing regulations for AI use. the article “ Summary of the 2023 WGA MBA” said that “AI can’t write or rewrite literary material, and AI-generated material will not be considered source material under the MBA, meaning that AI-generated material can’t be used to undermine a writer’s credit or separated rights.” The WGA supports writers as part of a sister union with another major labor union that represents actors called SAG-AFTRA. While the WGA came to an agreement, actors represented by SAG-AFTRA have still been on strike since July 14th, 2023. WGA members are still being encouraged by the union to join SAG-AFTRA members.

While many writers are protesting the use of AI, some are even working with AI companies creatively. In the article “Fiction writers fear the rise of AI, but also see it as a story to tell” by Hillel Italie it states “ Earlier this year, Screenwriter and humorist, Simon Rich collaborated with Brent Katz and Josh Morgenthau for "I Am Code," a thriller in verse that came out this month and was generated by the AI program "code-davinci-002."I also checked out reviews on books written by AI like Techno Magica and I found that a lot of the public's reviews spoke about the books' endless repetitions of scenarios and how these aren't technological issues, they are stylistic problems. AI writing tools are still far from perfection. And writers using AI are still going to have to edit and proofread if they want to produce quality content. The article “ Editor lashes out after company publishes AI-generated article ‘riddled’ with errors'' by Nick Robertson states “An article written by artificial intelligence (AI) and published on Gizmodo’s website Wednesday had multiple factual errors, sparking backlash from the site’s staff as management attempts to implement bot-produced content. Computer-generated content was rolled out at G/O Media’s outlets this week, including sites such as A.V. Club, Gizmodo, Deadspin, Quartz and others.” Current versions of AI produced writing are prone to make mistakes and produce inaccurate information. 

In conclusion, while AI can be used as a valuable tool in aiding screenwriters with generating ideas it ultimately will not replace human creativity. It should only be used as  a tool, not used dependently.In the article “Why AI Will Never Fully Replace People as Writers: The Human Advantage” by Sallie B Middlebrook it says  “AI can assist human writers with tasks such as research and data analysis, but it cannot replace the human touch that makes content truly compelling.”  This is because AI doesn’t have life experiences and can only write what it's learnt from humans. A difference between the human writing process and AI’s writing process is that AI uses algorithms to begin writing, this is by collecting data from a variety of sources including articles, scripts, and books to learn and better understand styles and patterns. Human writers usually begin the writing process with a spark for ideas and inspiration. AI tries to imitate human writing styles by relying on data it collects, this limits AI’s ability to create original ideas.