South Park" Co-Creators Team Up with OpenAI for Scriptwriting in Latest Episode

MARCH 20, 2023 22:00

In a ground-breaking move, the hit animated series "South Park" has collaborated with OpenAI, a leader in artificial intelligence (AI) development, to write part of the script for their latest episode "Deep Learning". The fourth episode of the 26th season features the use of ChatGPT, OpenAI's AI language model, in several scenes, including the creation of the final minutes of the episode.

A Storyline Featuring ChatGPT

The storyline of "Deep Learning" centers around several boys in Stan's class who use ChatGPT to write essays and text messages to girls. The AI-generated script in the final minutes of the episode was co-written by Trey Parker and ChatGPT.

The episode takes a satirical approach to the role of AI in society, with the ChatGPT program generating Stan's speech about people using AI, stating that "It's the giant tech companies who took Open AI, packaged it, monetized it, and pushed it out to all of us as fast as they could in order to get ahead."

A Tale of AI and Romance

In one scene, Stan asks ChatGPT to write a story about a boy named Stan who has to convince his girlfriend that it's okay he lied about using AI to text her.

The AI-generated tale showcases ChatGPT's writing capabilities as it delivers a whimsical story that takes place in South Park. The episode raises questions about the ethics of AI and its impact on society, with the character Stan arguing that AI should be something that everyone can use, control, and contribute to in order to prevent it from being controlled solely by corporations.

As Trey Parker and Matt Stone, co-creators of "South Park," have expressed interest in AI in the past and even secured a $20 million investment in their AI studio Deep Voodoo in December 2022, it is likely that their collaboration with OpenAI will continue in future projects.

The "South Park" episode "Deep Learning" marks a groundbreaking collaboration between the entertainment industry and the world of AI development. The use of ChatGPT as part of the scriptwriting process not only showcases the writing capabilities of AI but also highlights important questions about the role of AI in society and the need for greater ethical considerations in its development and use.