The Linguistics of Infinite Torture: Collaborating with AI

As a filmmaker who is fascinated by technology and its implications for the human condition, I jumped at the chance to participate in OpenAI’s beta program for experimenting with their natural language AI, GPT-3. What followed was a deep dive into the possibilities of collaborating with artificial intelligence as my co-writer.

What intrigued me the most is that AI can explore the human condition in a way that is truly unique, and the film I (we) wrote is a humorous and disturbing glimpse into a future where technology has reached a point where we can no longer trust our own perceptions. I’m drawn to the meta, the self-referential, and AI was all too willing to oblige me in creating an ouroboros of a story that is as recursive as my AI counterpart’s thinking and even more strange than I could have imagined. The writing process was like working with an oddball, erratic, and supremely entertaining writer, who you probably wouldn’t want to invite to a party, but who is a fantastic collaborator.

Clearly we’re witnessing the birth of new storytelling forms that will transform the entire film and television industry, as well as gaming and even music. As AI storytelling merges with real-time, photorealistic 3D graphics and advanced graphics processors, it's easy to imagine a future entertainment industry that crafts realtime, never ending “films” that are individually tailored to whomever is watching. Or should I say participating, since these technologies will inevitably merge with VR and haptic immersion experiences.

In the meantime, I hope my film is a provocative and entertaining spark for conversations about technology and the future of the human experience. I also believe it's a glimpse into the future of filmmaking, where AI-human collaborations are the norm, rather than interesting experiments. Whether that will be to our benefit as humans, well... We’re going to find out soon.