After two years of hype for showrunners, the so-called “AI Netflix” has finally been discarded by the entertainment industry, and we're here to replace costly flirty crafts like writing, acting, effectiveness, editing and more in AI slop. Obviously, I had to give it a try.
With funding from Amazon's venture capital arm, the Alexa Fund, Showrunner is a product of San-Francisco Startup Fable, led by Edward Saatchi. The purpose is to allow anyone to create their own TV series using AI. After a closed alpha test, published today, it is free to use (for now). To my fear, I found it pretty funny… for a few minutes.
“Netflix is cooking,” while trying Showrunner, I saw one person writing in a group chat on the Discord channel. Hmm…really?
For now, AI video generators are quite limited. There is only one “series” or animation style available. It's an Exit Valley called “Tech Satire.” For now, you can only generate scenes in Showrunner with Discord via public chat channels, like the early days of AI image generator Midjourney before launching its own site last year.
There is an option to choose from a very limited selection of characters and scenes, but you can create your own using a text prompt. Next, we'll use a text prompt to explain the key points of the scenario and interaction you want to generate. However, the delivery and personality of the output appears to be a very AI model job. This is because the sense of humor is so deadpan, it is often difficult to know where the jokes should be.
Exit Valley may sound like the narcissistic theme of Showrunner's first outing, but it's a wise choice. By encouraging AI Bros to laugh, it won't be easy to hate the project completely. Also, the fact that the output is clearly satire could help avoid potential lawsuits of am-damaged, if not copyright from celebrities. More animation styles are ongoing.
A scene that is short for a few seconds takes up to 5 minutes to generate. The video is generated on a public chat channel, allowing you to view others while waiting. Some characters are more recognizable.
At one test prompt, I asked the showrunner to generate a video of Open Rye Sam Altman trying to console a distraught Tom Cruise. Although he does not recognize either of the generated characters, the AI corrected the mouth of Cruise's foul if his Tyrades report from the set of missions: Impossible 7 should be believed.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are more recognizable. Naturally, they look like the most popular characters. When I try it, when I try it, there are only 20 characters available immediately, and who they are might say something about the people who use the platform. Many people match the theme of technology, but there are some weird guest appearances (Boris Johnson and TS Elliot?). The only women were Kim Kardashian, biotechnology con man Elizabeth Holmes and former open chief technology Mira Murati
Is Netflix cooked? The AI's creepy sense of humor proved to be instantly fascinating, but the lack of laughter quickly becomes troublesome and its ability to closely control the output appears to be limited. Ultimately, five minutes of novelty is fun. You can see someone who loves it to make short satirical memes, but what?
For now, you can freely download using the video, but Showrunner will ultimately charge between $10 and $20 per month in your credits. It might be washed with content creators. You can see social media channels being born based on material generated by the showrunner.
But will individual consumers cancel their Netflix subscription in favor of generating their own bad AI skits? As the different animation styles expand, watching AI bots interpret your own ideas is hardly entertainment.
My other doubts about it are more existential. If everyone is generating their own content, and everyone is generating their own content, what happens to the social elements of the shared experience? We were able to see further atomization of culture as people retreat into their own personal world of entertainment.
Try out the showrunner and let me know what you think in the comments. For more information about AI Video News, check out Adobe's Unfinished Creators Film Campaign.
