How Are Chatbots Affecting Scriptwriters?

We're all aware of the huge impact chatbots have had in recent years, with popular technologies like ChatGPT, having posed several key questions about the role AI may have in the future.

At the time of writing, the entertainment industry is facing a massive issue with strikes from the Writer's Guild of America which have shaken Hollywood studios. Several projects have gone on hold, as writers in the industry demand better pay for their work in light of the seismic changes brought about by the rise of streaming services.

The confrontation has sparked the question of how AI technologies can affect scriptwriting and writing in general within the entertainment industry. Can technologies like ChatGPT ultimately be the brains behind the next set of Hollywood blockbusters, or are they simply a tool that can simplify the writing process?

A New Writing Tool That's Here to Stay

AI has been crucial in all kinds of technologies. It has become a pivotal tool in shaping the future of industries that have existed long before AI or the internet came to be. Take online casinos for example. AI has become a staple utility in analysing player behaviour and tailoring their experience through casino no deposit bonus deals, cashback offers and more promotional offers. 

Similarly, the idea of AI simply generating screenplays with just a couple of provided keywords might sound incredulous to some, but the reality is far more complex than that. Rather than eliminating the need for writers, AI writing apps will more likely serve as a tool within the editing process.

Plenty of writers have already found ways of using these apps to help them with their work. The most significant advantage they bring to the table is in helping writers produce dialogue. Dialogue is pivotal when writing screenplays, and more comprehensive proofreading software is always beneficial to writers.

That's not to say that chatbots will be directly producing the dialogue that actors deliver on screen. Instead, these apps can generate material or brief ideas for the writers to analyse and be inspired by. Using NLP, natural language processing, chatbots can analyse dialogue and suggest changes, which saves time for the writer and makes sure dialogue is natural and flows well.

In a more advanced writing stage, chatbots can also be used to analyse a script's structure. Chatbots can analyse a script's pacing and character development and could even identify areas that need improvement. This can help writers to ensure that their script is well-structured and engaging, which improves the chances of it being picked up by producers.

Will Chatbots Ever Replace Scriptwriters?

It's safe to say that we're years away from AI having the capacity to write a complete script, let alone one which is to a professional standard.

With the current technology, the script will be pretty generic, with bland, generalised sentences that simply lack the nuance, realism, and detail that a human writer brings to the table.

They're ultimately limited by the data they are trained on, so the pool they draw from can very easily be biased or even incomplete, resulting in inaccurate dialogue and ideas. Additionally, chatbots can replicate logic, but they can't create new writing. They are limited by what already exists, which makes original and unique work, currently, only possible by human creation.

The best screenplays ever written have been produced through a deep understanding of human behaviour, culture, and history, and these are all qualities that chatbots will most likely not be able to offer soon.

The Future of AI and Scriptwriting

So, although we've seen people using ChatGPT to program and control robots, the technology is still nowhere near the levels of sophistication required to eliminate human writers. As a writing tool, they can save time, suggest dialogue, and analyse the structure of a script.

Future AI technologies may manage to bridge this gap, but for now, they'll remain a useful tool for writers who want to improve their craft and analyse their scripts.