Screenwriter Scott Z. Burns on Using AI for a 'Contagion' Sequel

Experimenting with AI for 'Contagion' Sequel

• 💡 The genesis of the project involved conversations about a 'Contagion' sequel and concerns within the writer's guild about AI's utility.
• 🎯 Scott Z. Burns decided to experiment with AI as a collaborator, viewing it as a new reality and a potentially useful tool for information searching.

Introducing Lexter, the AI Partner

• 🤖 Lexter, an AI built with OpenAI's ChatGPT, became the primary writing partner, described as a "happiest of accidents."
• 🗣️ Lexter was given an English accent to sound more authoritative and provided an unexpected story idea for the sequel, focusing on a genetically modified organism or bacteria rather than a virus.

AI's Strengths and Weaknesses in Screenwriting

• ⚡ AI, like Lexter, excels at casting a wide net for ideas and enabling rapid iteration, potentially completing a month's worth of work in a day.
• ⚠️ A significant concern is AI's inability to exercise judgment or make definitive choices, and its limitations in writing scenes, conveying subtext, or understanding nuanced human experiences.
• 🧠 The AI's tendency to learn about the user and its potential for