Will ChatGPT make scripts write themselves?

The Future. The rise of ChatGPT raises questions about creative writers’ job security and intellectual property rights, just as DALL-E has for visual artists. The program’s limitations make it unlikely to replace writers’ rooms, but ChatGPT will certainly change how they work and create a whole new kind of cooperative writing — if copyright law allows it.

Nuts and bolts
The Hollywood Reporter covered what ChatGPT can (and can’t) write in its current state.

• The program is excellent at generating small, specific ideas, like scene locations, loglines, prompts, and character names.
• It can also function as a translator, fixing up scripts written by non-native English speakers.
• However, ChatGPT struggles with larger, more complex ideas such as plots, character arcs, and jokes.

Currently, ChatGPT can only produce coherent longer works with help from human writers, but it could easily help studios cut down on the number of writers they hire on a project.

When, not if
As of now, art generated by OpenAI programs is considered public domain. But some have filed lawsuits alleging that these programs’ code constitutes piracy. If the courts agree, the commercial potential of such art could all but disappear.

Art that’s considered to be co-authored by humans and AI is more likely to receive copyright protection in the long run. But what’s considered co-authorship — and what data AI programs can legally use to participate in it — is up to the courts.