Charlie Brooker, the creator of Black Mirror, recently shared his candid thoughts on his experience using ChatGPT to generate a hypothetical episode script. As the mastermind behind the sci-fi dystopia anthology series, Brooker has consistently explored the dark and unsettling possibilities that arise from advancements in technology.
In a conversation with Empire, Brooker revealed that he decided to experiment with ChatGPT, the famous Artificial Intelligence, to see what it could produce. While the generated script initially appeared to have potential, Brooker soon discovered that the software had essentially scraped his own work and that of others to create a synopsis. This revelation left him underwhelmed and led him to recognize the repetitive tropes that had emerged throughout the series.
Brooker’s encounter with ChatGPT’s output has motivated him to take a more experimental approach when crafting future episodes of Black Mirror. Rather than relying on familiar themes and storylines, he is determined to push the boundaries and challenge both himself and the audience.
He stated, “I’ve toyed around with ChatGPT a bit. The first thing I did was type ‘generate Black Mirror episode’ and it comes up with something that, at first glance, reads plausibly, but on second glance, is sh*t. Because all it’s done is look up all the synopses of Black Mirror episodes, and sort of mush them together. Then if you dig a bit more deeply you go, ‘Oh, there’s not actually any real original thought here.’ It’s [1970s impressionist] Mike Yarwood — there’s a topical reference.
I was aware that I had written lots of episodes where someone goes ‘Oh, I was inside a computer the whole time! So I thought, ‘I’m just going to chuck out any sense of what I think a Black Mirror episode is.’ There’s no point in having an anthology show if you can’t break your own rules. Just a sort of nice, cold glass of water in the face.”
Fans of the series can anticipate the release of Black Mirror’s sixth season on June 16. The previous 5 seasons have been an extraordinary offering from the makers, so is expected from this one.