SCREENWRITING
Screenwriting & AI in 2023: Approaching The Inflection Point
AI Tools are about to fundamentally change the creative industries, including filmmaking and writing
In 2023 we are waking up to a world in which AI tools like ChatGPT and Midjourney have developed an understanding of human language and can mimic creative processes more efficiently than their human predecessors.
There’s no doubt that, given the speed at which creative AI tools are developing these days, fundamental changes in the creative industry are imminent. It’s like the invention of the printing press — on steroids.
Here’s a look at what that might mean for screenwriters and filmmakers in 2023:
Brave New Creativity
With big tech throwing down the gauntlet in the battle for chatbot supremacy, it should be dawning on all of us now: AI tools will fundamentally change both, our interactions with machines and humans.
I think the sooner we prepare for the dramatic shift in the way we work with collaborative AI tools, the better. Hopefully, the following resources will help you get familiar with the unprecedented creative potential as well as the legal, ethical, and social challenges that this shift will bring.
AI Tools For Story & Character Development
Artificial intelligence was used to develop stories and characters long before ChatGPT became mainstream. But the difference in computing power makes today’s AI tools more than the grammar or structure analysts of the past.
If you know the right prompt, you can turn a language model like ChatGPT or GPT-3 into your personal script consultant. Iterating through different story models with the help of AI speeds up the structural groundwork immensely and the same applies to character development.
To get your hands dirty with prompt engineering in the context of visual storytelling, check out these tutorials:
Some more advanced techniques can be found here. For more information about prompt engineering in the context of AI text generation, check out these:
In addition, image generators can help ignite that “story spark” when you get into a rut. If you want to know how you can use AI image generators for a range of tasks facing today’s storyteller:
AI Cinema
Advances in AI-generated images, videos, and sounds will likely lead to new forms of filmmaking in the near future. As storytellers, we may have to adapt to a new economic environment that embraces AI-assisted cost-cutting and efficiency-enhancing production. Runway’s eagerly awaited GEN1 already shows where the journey will go:
While GEN1 requires the user to enter a prompt in order to transform their home-made video, Google’s Phenaki already showcases autonomous video creation by an AI following only a text prompt that functions as a storyboard (including scene direction and camera movements):
At the same time, artists and developers are pushing the boundaries of what is possible with AI image generators like Midjourney or Stable Diffusion — the latter catalyzing more and more offshoots specializing in tasks relevant to AI filmmaking.
Collaborative Storytelling Beyond The Writers' Room
With AI tools on the rise, traditional workflows are very likely to change as well. We’re already seeing small creative teams collaborating on Discord servers to create whole story worlds with the use of AI tools:
Read more about the changes in our work environment here and here.
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