I’m working on my final major project for my MA in Screenwriting, a TV pilot, and, having heard a lot about the threat of ChatGBT, decided to see what it had to offer.

I logged onto chat.openai.com and asked it to write a romantic comedy with these two characters:

Jack Appleton (45)

Jack doesn’t listen to anyone. He won’t take advice, and his habit of dealing with emotional pain by self-medicating has brought him where he is today – on the streets. What’s more, the world owes him. And everyone in it. He’s done his bit to help the poor and now it’s time for everyone else to help him. Jack’s narcissism, rooted in childhood trauma, has led him to believe he can solve the world’s problems single-handedly, seeing himself as a “hero of the faith” – a kind of christian-missionary James Bond. But his friends abandoned him recently due to his addiction issues. If he can’t fix himself, how can he fix the world? After a violent childhood led to substance abuse issues, drugs and gangs, at age 26 a ‘Damascus Road’ religious experience gave him a new raison d’etre. Jack believed God was calling him as a missionary, so he set sail to Africa with a backpack and a bible. First stop Nigeria, where he met Gbemi and Tom Anderson. He helped teach English in Gbemi’s night shelter for women and in Tom’s gym for teenage boys. He fell in love with Gbemi, but his love was unreturned. This rejection led Jack to a drunken one-night-stand with Lola, a young woman in Gbemi’s shelter. Ashamed, Jack left Nigeria in 2016 and moved to Cambodia, working with an international NGO fighting child exploitation. He fell in love with Sreyda, a local artist, and spent the last 4 years being step-father to her daughter, Coco. When Sreyda broke up with him, Jack hit the meth pipe, which in turn led to homelessness and begging, until he was deported back to the UK in Jan 2023. Now, homeless in London, abandoned by his church and his friends, Jack believes the world owes him a living. He wants to go back to Cambodia and Sreyda. But what he really needs to do is ask for help, not demand it.

D.C Xhesi Whittaker (nee. Kapllani) (36)

Xhesi doesn’t care what her colleagues think of her. Xhesi is attracted to broken men and believes she can fix them, her latest project being her coke-snorting, career politician husband Kevin. But her efforts at changing him have so far been in vain. An ethnic Albanian, Xhesi’s father arrived in the UK with her when she was 5 in 1992, during the Bosnian wars, and claimed political asylum. Her mother Alira was killed in front of her in Kosovo in 1990. (Xhesi learns one of her suspects, Arben Baktaraj, is a Serbian paramilitary responsible for a massacre of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo around the time her mother was murdered.) Ultra professional, having entered the met on the degree holder fast-track program, Xhesi has her sights set on Detective Inspector with Serious Organized Crime. Being Albanian, thanks to Suella Braverman, around the office Xhesi has become the butt of ‘invader’ jokes, which evolved into ‘Darth Vader’ and ‘use the force’. She shrugs the insults off but takes it out on Kevin. When Xhesi is exposed to this small boat child-trafficking ring and the neglect of children by the UK government, an old wound is opened. During her journey to the UK Xhesi suffered an assault in the refugee centre by a guard. Xhesi knows those places are no place for a child, so when she hears the murdered boy was abducted from an immigration ‘hotel’ it reignites past trauma and she is more determined than ever to find the killer.

This is what the chatbot wrote for me:

Title: Finding Love and Redemption

Act 1:

We see Jack sleeping in a corner of a park, with a bottle of alcohol in his hand. He wakes up groggily and realizes that he needs to get his life together. He remembers his past experiences as a missionary in Nigeria and Cambodia and how he failed to maintain those relationships due to his addiction.

Meanwhile, Xhesi is at work, trying to solve a case of child trafficking. She is deeply affected by the case, as it reminds her of her own trauma as a refugee child. She becomes more determined than ever to catch the culprit.

Act 2:

Jack decides to seek help and goes to a rehabilitation center. There, he meets Xhesi, who is volunteering at the center. They don’t hit it off initially, as Jack is defensive and uncooperative. Xhesi recognizes Jack’s narcissistic behavior and challenges him to take responsibility for his actions.

As they work together, Jack begins to open up about his past experiences as a missionary and how he lost his way. Xhesi sees through Jack’s tough exterior and realizes that he is a broken man who needs help. She is drawn to him and finds herself wanting to help him.

Act 3:

As Jack makes progress in his rehabilitation, he realizes that he still loves Sreyda and wants to go back to Cambodia to win her back. Xhesi encourages Jack to pursue his dreams, but also challenges him to take responsibility for his actions and make amends with those he has hurt.

Xhesi, on the other hand, is having marital problems with Kevin, who is resistant to change. She realizes that she cannot fix him and decides to leave him.

Act 4:

Jack travels to Cambodia and reunites with Sreyda. He apologizes for his past behavior and asks for forgiveness. Sreyda is hesitant at first, but she sees that Jack is sincere and forgives him. They decide to start over and give their relationship another chance.

Meanwhile, Xhesi continues to work on the child trafficking case and finally catches the culprit. She feels a sense of closure and decides to focus on her own happiness.

Epilogue:

Jack and Sreyda are happily together in Cambodia, working together to help the local community. Xhesi has been promoted to Detective Inspector and is content with her life. Jack and Xhesi keep in touch and occasionally meet up to catch up on each other’s lives. They both realize that their past experiences have shaped them into who they are today, but they are grateful for the people who have helped them find love and redemption.

Not bad, huh? Do you think we need to be worried, or can we use this magnificent tool to feed into our creativity?