“Indispensable Asset” or “Wonderfully Devastating”: What Lies Ahead for AI in Television Drama?

In a world teetering on the edge of creativity’s cliff, where writers are side-eyeing artificial intelligence like a blind date gone wrong, last year’s Writers Guild of America (WGA) deal surprisingly permitted AI to be a mere tool—an assist, not a replacement. But how long can we hold onto that hope? One day, we might hear a Primetime Emmy Award winner, teary-eyed and beaming, give their heartfelt shout-out to some futuristic AI companion like ChatGPT or Sora while clutching their trophy. Just, let’s not hold our breath for it this year.

The television landscape is buzzing, a cocktail of curiosity and fear, as industry insiders like Guy Bisson of Ampere Analysis report that AI tools still have a way to go before they can pen Shakespearean sonnets—or even decent TV dramas. If the day comes when AI writes the next award-winning series, we might want to thank it for the heartfelt moments while rolling our eyes at all the plot holes, courtesy of its silicon-brainchild.

Fast forward 18 months, and you might find yourself swimming in an ocean of AI-generated scripted content. Guy predicts a tidal wave of usage coming our way—buckle up! European media moguls seem a tad more optimistic about the opportunities AI presents, with RTL's CEO, Thomas Rabe, proclaiming it as a means to improve efficiency and generate content. Meanwhile, over at ITV Studios, Julian Bellamy has labeled generative AI as a “co-pilot,” which frankly sounds like the kind of co-pilot who might hit the snooze button on a red-eye flight instead of taking the wheel.

Ah, but the American landscape? Hollywood Studios seem to be cloaked in a cautious haze, akin to a first-date awkward silence. Tony Vinciquerra of Sony Pictures calls AI “an unbelievable tool” yet insists on tackling it with the kind of trepidation reserved for a haunted house. Discussions with tech giants about AI tools that create, well, ‘magic’ have been whispered in boardrooms. Yet, studios like Disney and Netflix are still sidestepping proposals like a canopy walk over a crocodile-infested river.

This reluctance traces back to AI being a hot topic during last year's writers' strikes—it was practically the star of the show. The final agreements are still waiting for their moment under the spotlight, and questions loom about how AI might dance around copyrighted material. As the astute observer Peter Csathy notes, any company wishing to flirt with AI must be very careful in its approach to the emotional, and rather uncertain, creative community—or risk unearthing potential liabilities that could make legal teams drool.

If practical examples of AI in drama programming were deer, we’d hardly be spotting them. The BBC once dipped its toes into AI-generated marketing for the illustrious *Doctor Who*, only to yank it back faster than a cat caught in a bath, due to viewer complaints. Amazon MGM Studios tiptoed around the AI turf when crafting a marketing image for its series based on a video game—thank you, AI for that one, but let’s maybe save the creative juice for writing actual conversations.

Speaking of AI's contributions, Disney+ brought in the power of AI when it called on a voice-cloning company for the young Luke Skywalker in *The Mandalorian*. And when Marvel Studios needed a bit of sparkle for its *Secret Invasion* miniseries, they turned to a custom AI tool. These examples merely tease what AI might ultimately accomplish in the television industry, currently restricted to tools like Cinelytic and StoryFit that can analyze scripts but don’t quite have the soul to create Shakespeare.

As experimental filmmakers, such as Paul Trillo who had early access to Sora, continue to ponder what AI could do in mainstream TV—only to realize we're still years away from producing anything worthy for the small screen—many writers are cautiously optimistic. They view AI as both a shiny new toy and an impending storm cloud.

Mark Goffman, a name behind hits like *The Umbrella Academy* and *The West Wing*, sees AI as a research assistant with incredible potential. Imagine encouraging a GPT to craft character arcs or dialogue as it whirs away in the background. However, Goffman warns us that achieving meaningful interactions with AI requires a delicate hand and a dash of creativity from writers. Because let’s face it, if you give it a bland prompt, don’t expect it to serve you a Michelin-star dish.

Yet there’s a flip side. Fellow creator Marc Guggenheim observes that while AI could be beneficial, it can also prove devastating. He’s dabbled with AI, but he’s quick to point out that it’s not yet ready to ghostwrite a worthy scene. “It’s not primetime material right now,” he states, and honestly, who needs a half-baked script churning out of an AI's mechanical heart?

At the end of the day, for now, AI remains on the sidelines, waiting for that golden opportunity to join the writing team—once it figures out how to write a decent line of dialogue without turning every conversation into unintentionally hilarious gibberish.