Will artificial intelligence replace screenwriters? WGA offers an intermediate solution

How will the big one react? Dalton Trumbo, screenwriter from Hollywood’s golden age, if someone told him that in 2023, movie scripts would be written by artificial intelligence? He would probably take the news for a joke in bad taste, or he would chuckle under his breath. We, who are in 2023, know that this is not nonsense, but reality, because the US screenwriters union, called the Writers Guild of America, decided that from now on they will deal with dialogues, descriptions, jokes, etc. not even carnal-and-blooded writers. But be careful: the situation is less tragic than it seems, even if it may lead to a significant reduction in the workforce.

Screenwriters in the flesh and not

Variety, which is the source of our news, tells us that the writing of the script will always be entrusted to the screenwriter, who, however, will be able to get help from artificial intelligence. The latter can also rewrite the script or correct it. In any case, the screenwriter’s name will never disappear from the opening and/or closing credits of the film. In other words, Artificial Intelligence will be a valuable assistant, and in any case, he will never be allowed to write the script completely, and therefore immediately. it will not replace a person.

In its proposal, the American Screenwriters Union writes that artificial intelligence will not take care of any literary material nor raw materialwhere the former refers to plots, interpretations, scenarios, dialogues, etc., and for raw material instead, we mean everything that could inspire a film: newspaper articles, news, novels, and essays. The WGA also states that the opening and/or closing credits may not only say “The film is written…” but also “the script”.

Those who reached out to the WGA leadership looking for details were unable to get a single statement, but the union confided its intentions to a tweet summarizing what we have said so far.

The WGA’s proposal to regulate the use of content created using artificial intelligence or similar technologies ensures that Companies cannot use AI to subvert writers’ performance standards, including compensation, balances, individual rights, and credits. #WGAStrong ????1/7

— Writers Guild of Western America (@WGAWest) March 22, 2023

Even if the WGA assures that AI will not replace screenwriters, their presence is already a concern, because they will still take the place of interns or novice screenwriters. And then… how far away is the day when they will become so advanced that they will far surpass the human mind? Better not to think about it.