‘Black Mirror’ Creator Tried Using AI to Write Season 6 Episode: “There’s Not Actually Any Real Original Thought”

With the adverse effect of technology at the center of the hit series Black Mirror, creator Charlie Brooker decided to test the highly-discussed Artificial Intelligence technology for himself.

During a recent interview with Empire magazine, the television writer said he actually “toyed around with ChatGPT a bit” while writing the latest season of the anthology series.

“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 shit,” Brooker said of the technology’s ability to write a script. “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.”

The Netflix show, which was confirmed last week to have five episodes in its upcoming sixth season, unveils how the use of modern technology can backfire on humanity, with each episode based in a different reality.

Although Brooker’s experimentation with AI technology didn’t go as planned, he noted there were some takeaways to help him as he planned the show’s forthcoming season.

“I was aware that I had written lots of episodes where someone goes, ‘Oh, I was inside a computer the whole time,’” he explained. “So I thought, ‘I’m just going to chuck out any sense of what I think a Black Mirror episode is.’”

The Emmy-winner writer added, “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.”

Brooker previously said that he “stretched the parameters” of what to expect from a Black Mirror episode in season six, which is set to hit Netflix on June 15.