London cinema cancels screening of film written by ChatGPT after backlash

[KARAH RUCKER]

A LONDON CINEMA HAS CANCELED THE WORLD PREMIERE OF A FILM THAT WAS SCHEDULED FOR THIS WEEKEND THANKS TO BACKLASH IT RECEIVED OVER THE FILM’S CONTROVERSIAL SCREENWRITER – CHATGPT.

[FILM CLIP]

“How would you start a screenplay…that’s um decent.”

[KARAH RUCKER]

CALLED “THE LAST SCREENWRITER” – THE FILM TAKES A META APPROACH AT STORYTELLING – SHOWING THE SAGA OF A SCREENWRITER FACED WITH THE TASK OF WORKING WITH AN AI SYSTEM WHOSE SKILLS MATCH HIS OWN.

SWISS FILMMAKER PETER LUISI (LOUIE-SEE), THE MOVIE’S HUMAN DIRECTOR, SAYS HIS FILM IS MEANT TO START A CONVERSATION ABOUT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE INDUSTRY.

BUT ONCE PRINCE CHARLES CINEMA POSTED ON SOCIAL MEDIA IT WOULD BE SCREENING THE SELF-DESCRIBED FIRST FEATURE FILM WRITTEN ENTIRELY BY AI – THE THEATER WAS HIT WITH COMMENTS DENOUNCING THE DECISION.

THE NEXT DAY — THE CINEMA POSTED AN UPDATE SAYING QUOTE: “THE FEEDBACK WE RECEIVED OVER THE LAST 24 HOURS ONCE WE ADVERTISED THE FILM HAS HIGHLIGHTED THE STRONG CONCERN HELD BY MANY OF OUR AUDIENCE ON THE USE OF AI IN PLACE OF A WRITER WHICH SPEAKS TO A WIDER ISSUE WITHIN THE INDUSTRY.”

LAST YEAR IN THE U.S. — HOLLYWOOD ACTORS AND SCREENWRITERS WENT ON STRIKE – WITH ONE OF THE MAIN STICKING POINTS BEING THE ROLE OF AI IN ENTERTAINMENT.

SPEAKING TO SCREEN DAILY – LUISI SAYS HE HAD HOPED THE LONDON THEATER HADN’T BEEN SCARED OFF FROM HOLDING THE SCREENING QUOTE “JUST BECAUSE A FEW PEOPLE ARE UPSET” – HE ADDED “YOU CAN NEVER DO ANYTHING THAT EVERYONE LIKES, ESPECIALLY WITH THIS SUBJECT.”

LUISI SAYS HE WILL BE RELEASING THE FULL FILM ONLINE– ALONG WITH THE SCRIPT THAT WAS FULLY GENERATED BY AI AND THE STEP-BY-STEP PROCESS OF HOW IT ALL CAME TO BE.

IN A STATEMENT POSTED TO THE FILM’S WEBSITE – THE SCREENWRITER – ONCE AGAIN THAT’S CHATGPT – SAYS, “AS A SCREENWRITER, I HAVE WORKED HARD TO CRAFT CHARACTERS THAT ARE COMPLEX AND RELATABLE, WITH DIALOGUE THAT IS BOTH SHARP AND NATURAL…ULTIMATELY, I HOPE THAT THIS FILM WILL BE A REMINDER THAT WHILE TECHNOLOGY CAN AUGMENT AND IMPROVE OUR WORK, IT CAN NEVER REPLACE THE UNIQUE AND IRREPLACEABLE QUALITIES OF HUMAN CREATIVITY.”

DESPITE THE CANCELATION — LUISI THINKS IT’S IMPORTANT FOR EVERYONE TO TAKE A LOOK AT THE MOVIE – SAYING IT SHOULD HELP THE CAUSE OF SCREENWRITERS – BECAUSE AS HE NOTED – “PEOPLE MIGHT BE ASTONISHED THAT YOU CAN WRITE A MOVIE ALREADY WITHOUT A PERSON.”

[VIDEO CLIP]

“This my friend is the future. Hello, Jack, I’m your new screenwriter assistant…It’s going to change the way work.”