An AI-Written Short Film Is Surprisingly Hilarious
I honestly didn’t think anything like this was possible, but Ars Technica has defied the impossible and has trained a computer to write a screenplay for a short film entitled Sunspring.
The way it accomplished the task was they had to first build an algorithm, which now calls itself Benjamin. They based it on text recognition and text prediction. Then they fed numerous sci-fi screenplays into the algorithm. After “learning” from the many different types of things that happen in a sci-fi movie, Benjamin was then given a few prompts to go on such as the title, a small scene, and an idea.
Then the impossible happens, Benjamin actually spits out a screenplay. The screenplay can be downloaded from Ars Technica’s site (here).
Honestly what came out was exactly what one would expect from a text prediction algorithm. It is completely nonsensical and one of the worst things ever.
However, that isn’t the most exciting part of this project because then a director and actors were hired to actually perform out the screenplay that was written by Benjamin. A lot of creative liberty had to be taken to make any sense of what was in the screenplay, but overall, the short film that was created is entirely based on what Benjamin created.
So without further adieu, I present to you the “Oscar caliber” short film adapted from the screenplay written by Benjamin the algorithm. Here is Sunspring.
That is the weirdest yet most interesting thing that I have ever seen, and I can’t wait to see what else Benjamin can come up with.
I watched it a second time while reading the screenplay along with it, and it surprisingly made more sense that time. I’m still 100% confused, but the overarching story was a little more clear… if there is an overarching story. Anyways, so definitely give that a try as well.
So what do you think of Sunspring? Leave your comments below and remember to always keep it unpopped.
