AI Wrote This Short Sci-Fi Film Starring David Hasselhoff

It's scary to think about the rise of automation as it is developing so quickly. Science-fiction, and even some real-life experts, have primed us to fear the potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI).

Much of this concern regarding automation is because of impending job loss. The demographic that these losses will likely hit first, and perhaps the hardest, are lower-skilled positions. However, the automation revolution isn't likely going to stop with factory work, other professions may soon have to contend with automated competition as well. AI has been used in place of lawyers, to recommend cancer treatments, and to report on major events like the Rio Olympics and the last US election.

Even creative endeavors are starting to be encroached upon by AI. Software has begun to compose music, and even write screenplays. Last year, the first film written by AI debuted, Sunspring, starring Thomas Middleditch (from HBO's Silicon Valley). The team behind the film has followed it up with a new short called It’s No Game which stars David Hasselhoff and Thomas Payne (from The Walking Dead).

 

The film was written by Benjamin 2.0 in conjunction with human intelligence Oscar Sharp, and Benjamin 2.0's writer Ross Goodwin.

Similar to what Sunspring did with X-Files scripts, the film mashes up scripts from a variety of sources including Shakespeare, Knight Rider, Aaron Sorkin, and Baywatch to craft a farcical narrative that asks existential questions about what it means to be an artist in the age of automation.