With the Writers’ and Actors’ strike going on in Hollywood, I’ve been hearing rumblings of folks considering using AI, and I use that term loosely, to write television series for the masses.
Now, I’m not going to go into my long winded explanation of why AI, like ChatGPT and such, is not really Artificial Intelligence but rather Language Model processing, or better yet, just a “smart regurgitator”. Think of it like a dim-witted politician that takes talking points, modifies the words a bit, and then spits out the talking points the best they can, hitting accuracy around 70%.
Anyway, those that believe computers are magic think they can type an idea into ChatGPT and pop up 10 episodes for a brand new television sensation that will sweep the airwaves with very little work. We can’t be eating into conglomerate profits! Do as much as you can with as little as possible.
The thing is, something similar to this was tried in 1969. The TV show “Turn-On” was ABC’s answer to “Laugh In”, and in some parts of the country, was cancelled before the first episode even finished airing. Some stations pulled it off the air at the first commercial break.
It’s unlike anything on TV at the time, the humor was way ahead of its time, and to watch it is a very bizarre experience. It’s been buried for decades, but the first and second episodes have found their way onto Youtube. (Let’s hope the link sticks).
If you ever wanted to see what a TV show produced by “AI” looks like, this is it. Even though “AI” as we know it today wasn’t used, there is no doubt in my mind that we’re going to end up with something like this in the near future.
That was indeed rather peculiar. But also funny and not unlike a lot of quick-cut sketch shows. I can see why it might not have done well back then though.