AI in the Screenwriting Room: Enhancing creativity or erasing humanity? 

As AI is rapidly being used within the screenwriting rooms, one question still lingers: can AI ever replicate human emotion? 

The use of artificial intelligence in the screenwriting rooms has created excitement as well as controversy. A strike by the Writers Guild of America over AI usage led to some agreements ensuring writers’ rights and protections. Even though AI does offer efficiency in script development, some industry professionals argue that the key element to storytelling, human emotion, could never be replaced by AI. Despite debates, major agencies, such as Buchwald, are adopting AI tools like Screenplay IQ for tasks like script coverage. AI tools allow efficiency to evolve while not interfering with human emotion. 

 “In the last scene of Terminator 2, when they say their final goodbye, T-1000 says to John Connor, ‘I know now why you cry and it’s something I could never do,’” said Kris Young, a current lecturer at UCLA.  “Writing has to come from a soul, and AI will never have a soul.”

Young received his screenwriting MFA at UCLA. He also has written pilots for CBS and Nickelodeon alongside movies for Disney Channel. It’s because of that experience he says that AI doesn’t have the knowledge or understanding of emotion; it’s a robot.

The use of AI in screenwriting has come under scrutiny over the past year.

In May 2023, the Writers Guild of America, the union representing Hollywood screenwriters, went on a strike lasting 148 days, just five months after the opening of ChatGPT and OpenAI.  The WGA strike was fighting for protections from AI usage. The union and Hollywood studios made an agreement to end  the strike that consists of writers having the ability to choose to use AI as a resource, companies must disclose to writers if they are dealing with AI-generated work, and minimum pay rates will rise 12% over three years. 

Utilizing AI in the writing process may be beneficial, but human emotion is a crucial factor when it comes to stories. Without emotion, what’s the point of a story? 

Rae Weiss attended USC School of Cinematic Arts for Screenwriting and has written TV pilots and films. They are currently working on a web series and an audio drama. For them, without real human emotion, the point of stories fades. 

“The purpose of storytelling is to grab someone by the hand and go, ‘Hey, you’re not alone, someone else has felt this way before,’” Weiss said. “And that’s not something a machine can do.” 

Many companies such as Netflix, Disney, Paramount, Universal Pictures, are starting to now incorporate AI into their work processes to help enhance the entertainment experience and save time. In the past year, the entertainment industry has experienced the usage of AI first hand. 

Julian Cain, the Director of Business Operations at Buchwald, a Los Angeles-based talent agency, said the agency is already using AI to write memos on script coverage. 

Script coverage is a review and analysis of a screenplay. It ideally gives a logline (brief summary of a script), synopsis (detailed description of story), analysis, and notes. Script coverage is usually done by interns, but it takes a long time, which is why companies are now switching over to AI for quicker and more efficient work. 

The system, Screenplay IQ,  allows Cain to put together coverage in hours, compared to the weeks it took him previously. He claims that the time he is saving is incredible. 

“The goal is to use what you already have, and utilize AI to help you navigate the road,” Cain said. 

In the same way that writers and audiences change in the entertainment industry, Cain added that methods are changing too. While emerging technology may seem new, he said that tools like AI might become the new normal and that the industry can’t avoid it. 

“AI is not going away,” Cain said. “At this point, you either start playing with it, or you’re gonna get left out.”