Black Mirror Creator Used ChatGPT to Write an Episode and It Was “Sh-t”

One point of controversy in the world of filmmaking right now is the ways in which A.I. is being used to create “content,” with Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker recently recalling his attempts at using the ChatGPT service in hopes of crafting a script for his series. A scenario in which A.I. takes over for human creativity is a premise that itself feels like it was lifted from his series, but it sounds as though writers are safe for the time being, with Brooker calling the product “sh-t.” A new season of Black Mirror will be debuting on Netflix on June 15th.

“I’ve toyed around with ChatGPT a bit,” Brooker shared with Empire Magazine. “The first thing I did was type ‘generate Black Mirror episode’ and it comes up with something that, at first glance, reads plausibly, but on second glance, is sh-t. Because all it’s done is look up all the synopses of Black Mirror episodes, and sort of mush them together. Then if you dig a bit more deeply you go, ‘Oh, there’s not actually any real original thought here.’ It’s [1970s impressionist] Mike Yarwood — there’s a topical reference.”

This isn’t to say that the experiment was entirely useless, as he revealed that, when an algorithm processes the plots of the episodes, it showed him trends in his own work that inspired him to explore new storytelling avenues.

“I was aware that I had written lots of episodes where someone goes, ‘Oh, I was inside a computer the whole time!’” the filmmaker joked. “So I thought, ‘I’m just going to chuck out any sense of what I think a Black Mirror episode is.’ There’s no point in having an anthology show if you can’t break your own rules. Just a sort of nice, cold glass of water in the face.”

The series is described, “The show looks inwards, at the darker aspects of humanity and society. This is done through the theme of technology, hence the second meaning. The black mirror is the screen that rules our lives. Taking contemporary phenomena (ranging from the wild popularity of talent shows on TV to the impact of social media and smartphones on our lives) as a starting point and speculate how such phenomena could/would evolve in the future. Each episode tells a different story with different protagonists and focuses on a different theme.”  

A new season of Black Mirror will be debuting on Netflix on June 15th.  

Are you looking forward to the new season? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!