Studio releases AI-generated South Park episode amid Hollywood strike

The ongoing twin strikes in Hollywood have brought the industry to a standstill. As writers and actors alike take to the picket line to assert their demands, the world of artificial intelligence - a common bone of contention - appears to be going from strength to strength. One such example of this was seen when an AI-generated episode of South Park was aired recently. 

3 things you need to know

• The SAG-AFTRA strike announced last week coincides with the WGA strike, with both now running parallely. 
• Actors and writers have much of the same demands, with one major common concern being the use of Artificial Intelligence. 
• South Park is a popular animated American television series running since 1997.

AI-made South Park episode part of a bigger project 

Fable, a San Francisco based startup, shared a 'South Park episode', generated by Artificial Intelligence. This comes as part of a bigger project being run by Fable, called The Simulation. The startup boasts a Showrunner AI technology called SHOW-1 which reportedly allows fans to cast themselves in episodes of television shows they love. 

Announcing our paper on Generative TV & Showrunner Agents!

Create episodes of TV shows with a prompt - SHOW-1 will write, animate, direct, voice, edit for you.

We used South Park FOR RESEARCH ONLY - we won't be releasing ability to make your own South Park episodes -not our IP! pic.twitter.com/6P2WQd8SvY

— The Simulation (@fablesimulation) July 18, 2023

As per a research paper released by them, SHOW-1 can write, produce, direct, cast, edit, voice, and animate episodes based on a two-sentence prompt by the user. Fable CEO Edward Saatchi further asserts, "People said AI can’t tell a story. Well, it can." As per Saatchi, the episode was released simply to serve as a comparison between a human-made show and an AI-generated one.

AI is the common enemy for SAG-AFTRA, WGA protesters

To note, among the list of demands posed by the writers striking under WGA, barring the use of AI to generate any and all literary content, ranks high. As for actors, they are protesting against the studios and streamers wanting to use the images and/or voices of extras and aspiring actors to replace the original cast members. Currently, Fable has no plans of making SHOW-1 commercially available.