FINALLY, SOMEONE WHO'LL READ MY SCREENPLAY

Writing with Artificial Intelligence by Sachin Kureishi

I always liked the idea that AI would one day take my job. I was hoping that if it could write my screenplay for me, then it’d be more than capable of replying to my mother’s texts without me ever having to read them. Maybe it could go for a drink with that old school friend for me.

As some of you will be aware, user-friendly AI technology has recently become democratised. And since I discovered it a couple of months ago, I’ve been surprised how much it can help with creativity.

There are now a few platforms that one can use for writing, such as Dramaton, but I’ve been using Chat GPT. It’s a conversation chat bot that produces text from questions you ask it. If you haven’t already, create an account and have a go on Playground.

Trust me, it’s easy.

Below I’ve attached a screen-grab of what the page looks like.

It’s a magnificent tool. Having processed over 8 million documents, and over ten billion words, it generates comprehensive responses of coherent text to any prompt you input: it can write emails for you, press releases and other copy work proficiently. It can write you recipes, a workout plan, code for an app, provide law advice, even.

Anything, pretty much.

What I found was that no, it couldn’t write my entire screenplay for me whilst I unloaded the dishwasher. Indeed, wasn’t the whole point in AI that we wouldn’t still be doing such chores?

It will never be able to do all my writing because, fundamentally, an authorless text is like a pretty car with no engine. Subjectivity is the lifeblood of a story. And no machine right now is capable of real abstraction; all it can do is regurgitate what it’s learnt from internalising the entire history of literature and cinema. But there are worse things to have than an obliging friend with such expertise.

What I found when I first started using it to help develop ideas for stories was that it would respond mostly in clichés, stereotypes and offer sentimental Hollywoodized endings that really weren’t ultimately very useful. It was like interacting with an intelligent child; it impressed me with how much it knew for its age, but it couldn’t really help me.

Or could it.

Then I started treating it like an adult. I began giving it more precise instructions, challenged it if I didn’t like what it was giving me, asked it to be critical of my ideas, to appraise them like an editor. It learns as you teach it, responding to the specificity of the input.

Below is a story I came up with this morning that may or may not be inspired by true events.

Me: I want to write a dark comedy drama. It's about a father who is staying in Rome with his girlfriend when he faints suddenly, falls on his neck and is paralysed from the head down. His three adult children, who all live in different countries, fly out to visit him in hospital. The siblings have been estranged for years, and visiting their father becomes a reunion for them.

Together at the hospital the doctors deliver some bad news: the father will never regain function of his limbs again, he's paralysed forever. After some discussion, the children decide they must kill the father by the end of the week, before they are due to fly home. They reason that there is no future for their father and it's their duty to put him out of his misery. During their week in Rome, the children go out for lavish meals on their father's card, buy expensive clothes. They have a week to decide which of the kids will be the one to kill their father. Can you tell me about who my characters could be?

Chat GPT: The father could be a retired businessman in his mid-60s, who was once very successful but has since fallen on hard times. He had a strained relationship with his children due to his workaholic lifestyle and his demanding nature. He was hoping to rekindle his relationship with them by taking this trip to Rome.

The children are all in their 30s. The eldest is a successful lawyer living in the United States. She is driven, ambitious and morally strict. The second child is a rebellious artist living in London. He is a free spirit who believes in taking risks and living life to the fullest. The youngest is a stay-at-home mom living in Paris. She is a nurturing, kind soul who is devoted to her family..

The siblings must come together to make a difficult decision and ultimately figure out who will be the one to kill their father. Their journey of self-discovery and healing is the focus of the story, as they learn to accept their father's fate and find a way to move on with their lives.

Me: I like the characters. But I don't want this story to feel sincere or worthy. It's a dark comedy, something in the style of Martin McDonough. The siblings are greedy and devious in their own peculiar ways. Give me some stories for what could happen during their wild week in Rome.

Chat GPT: The siblings take turns trying to win their father over with various gifts and experiences. One of them takes him out to the most expensive restaurant in the city, while another takes him on a shopping spree. They also take turns trying to convince their father that they should be the ones to kill him, in an attempt to win his favor. They get into wild antics throughout the week, from late night dance parties and bar hopping to gambling at the casino.

(Note: The chat seems to have misunderstood me here, it considers the father to be in on the plot to kill him. I quite like how perverse this is though. This could be useful.)

Chat GPT: Meanwhile, the siblings go to great lengths to try to keep their plan a secret from their father and the hospital staff. They scheme, lie and manipulate the staff in order to ensure their father is never aware of their intentions. One of the siblings even tries to hire a hitman to do the job for them, only to be thwarted by their siblings.

The siblings also use the week to reconnect with each other. They argue, they fight and they eventually make up. The story ends with the siblings making a final decision about who will be the one to kill their father. Regardless of the outcome, it is clear that their bond has been strengthened through the experience.

Me: At the beginning at least, the father doesn't know his children plan to kill him. Maybe the siblings should play some kind of game through the week, the loser of the game will be the one who has to kill the father. What could the game be?

Chat GPT: The siblings come up with a game called the "Game of Life", where each of them must draw a card from the deck and answer a series of questions. The questions range from the mundane ("What would you do if you won the lottery?") to the philosophical ("What is the meaning of life?"). The person with the most creative or thoughtful answer wins the card. Whoever collects the most cards by the end of the week will be the one to kill their father.

The game forces the siblings to confront difficult questions about their own lives and the lives of their father. As they answer the questions, they come to a deeper understanding of each other and of their father's plight. By the end of the week, the siblings are no longer just playing a game, but have come to a greater understanding of their father and themselves.

Me: I like the game but it isn't quite right. I like the idea of the game being like a series of tests the children have to do through the week. The loser has to kill the father. Do you have any thoughts on this?

Chat GPT: The siblings decide to play a game of chance and skill, where they must complete a series of tests throughout the week. Each test is unique and requires a different skill set. For example, one test might require them to build a model car, while another might require them to solve a complex puzzle. Whoever completes the most tests by the end of the week.

Me: I like the idea of the tests being decided by the other siblings who vote on it. Maybe there are 4 kids now. They make rules: no murder (other than the father later on). Everything else is on the table. At first, they are relatively small tests: one of the siblings is told to do a runner from a restaurant. But as the series develops, the tests become even more dangerous and perverse. One of the daughters must sleep with a sleazy policeman. Another must swim across the Tiber River in the middle of the night. Give me some more tests, the weirder, perverse and stranger the better.

Chat GPT: The tests become increasingly more dangerous and perverse as the week goes on. One sibling is forced to break into a high-security building and steal a valuable item. Another is told to get a tattoo of their father's initials. A third has to find a way to sneak onto a private yacht and steal an expensive bottle of wine. One of the siblings is tasked with robbing a bank, while another is dared to jump off the top of a tall building.

The tests become ever more extreme and bizarre, pushing the siblings to their limits. One of them is made to drink a bottle of vodka in under 10 minutes. Another is tasked with eating a live octopus. One has to dress up as a clown and perform in the streets for an hour. Another has to climb up the side of a skyscraper and take a selfie from the top.

Finally, the siblings are each given one final task: whoever fails the task must kill their father. The tasks become increasingly difficult, testing the siblings' physical and mental strength. In the end, only one can succeed.

                                                         ***

This conversation took me fifteen minutes. A lot of it is ludicrous and not very useful.

But some of it is thought-provoking, and lots of ideas are what we need in the beginning, world-building stage: In this dark wood, the chatbot is like a little torch, pointing us in various directions to go and explore.

A guide is all it is, however, and exercises like this remind us of how important the writer’s voice is. Authenticity is subjectivity, and no matter how hard the industry tries to create the formula for good television and film, originality is the only thing that endures.

I’d love to hear about your experiences with the software.

Sachin Kureishi

sachinkureishi@yahoo.co.uk