Charlie Brooker warns studios about AI use for script notes

Charlie Brooker, the mastermind behind the dystopian Netflix series Black Mirror, may not be actively creating new episodes right now, but that doesn’t mean he’s not pondering the potential downsides of technology in our future.

Usually, screenwriters cringe at the thought of receiving notes from studio executives on their scripts. But Brooker has thought ahead about how this process could become even more challenging—if those executives turn to artificial intelligence for feedback.

During the Edinburgh TV Festival, Brooker envisioned a scenario where scripts are fed into a machine that generates an animated rough cut, known as an “AI animatic,” to which studio changes could be suggested.

While this idea may sound plausible, Brooker expressed concern that using AI in this way could reduce the role of the human writer to merely providing prompts for the technology. However, he remains hopeful that the intricacies and nuances that come from human storytelling cannot be replicated by machines.

As technology continues to advance, the future of screenwriting remains uncertain, but for now, it seems there will always be a place for human creativity and the unique insights that come from the human experience.