'Adolescence' Screenwriter Says Writers Are "Using AI to Cheat"

In a speech to the Writers' Guild of Great Britain, screenwriter Jack Thorne accused colleagues of using artificial intelligence to generate screenplays. Thorne, known for Adolescence, Lord of the Flies, and Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, said he had heard from executives that some in the profession are resorting to technology to "cheat."

"I've spoken with several executives and studio heads about the use of AI and received very different responses, but what I've heard from them, and what I've heard anecdotally from some screenwriters close to me, is that some in my profession are using AI to cheat," he stated.

He differentiated between using AI as support and what he considers fraud. "I'm not talking about using AI to help, to discuss things, check spelling errors, or help with layout. I'm talking about using AI as a substitute for effort, as a substitute for writing. Using prompts instead of writing words. That is, simply, failing to write. They are deceiving their employers and deceiving their fellow screenwriters."

The screenwriter argued that passing off AI-generated work as one's own should be considered illegal. "If you use AI to generate content and don't disclose it, then it's fraud, and the companies you do it for should have the right to sue you. If I excitedly pitch my series about Mars to Netflix and they hire me to write the script, and I write it using AI without telling them, then they should have the right to take me to court."

Thorne also called for Big Tech companies to be required to publish their training data. "Big Tech companies steal, but because they don't have to declare where they stole it from, the theft goes unpunished. The AI ​​components we use cannot be built with theft."

A spokesperson for the British government responded that copyright laws should protect the country's creative sector while unlocking the potential of AI.