New streaming service wants you to pay to generate your own AI slop

While we often argue about the quality and oversaturation of streaming services nowadays, I think we can all agree that this latest streamer is the worst by far.

Enter Showrunner, a new generative AI-powered streaming platform from the San Francisco-based startup Fable. The idea is that you, the viewer, can be your own “showrunner” of a series by using AI to create animated content. While users can give one- to 100-word prompts to guide the dialogue, characters, shot types and other elements, AI will otherwise handle all of the writing, voiceover and animation.

However, Showrunner will start by offering a small catalogue of “original” titles that Fable says were created in collaboration with unnamed “filmmakers” but were also, unsurprisingly, built largely using AI. These include the South Park-inspired comedy “Exit Valley,” an anthology called “Sim Francisco” and the dark horror anime “Ikiru Shinu.”

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Fable exec Edward Saatchi said he wants Showrunner to become “the Netflix of AI,” with users continuously building out new content for the platform.

“Maybe you finish all of the episodes of a show you’re watching and you click the button to make another episode. You can say what it should be about or you can let the AI make it itself.”

All in all, it’s an incredibly bleak concept that feels particularly tone-deaf given the massive writers and actors strikes that took place last year, in no small part to protest the increasing use of AI in entertainment. We’re even running into situations where AI assistants like ChatGPT are seemingly stealing the voices of famous figures like Scarlett Johansson.

And while people like Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos try to argue that AI won’t take away jobs, efforts like Showrunner clearly prove otherwise, with its AI platform literally removing the need for human writers, voice actors, animators and more.

What’s particularly ironic is that Fable won an Emmy in 2019 for producing a VR version of Wolves in the Wall, an award-winning children’s book from beloved English author Neil Gaiman — a testament to the power of a strong (human) writer’s voice. Meanwhile, Fable touts that it was co-founded by Jessica Yaffa Shamash, a veteran of Pixar, a studio that is renowned for its artistic — and often existentialist — works.

For now, Fable is allowing people to sign up for a waitlist to become a free tester of Showrunner later this year. The company plans to give what it deems as the “creators” of the “best” content lump-sum payments, as well as revenue sharing should their titles be picked up by other streamers.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether streamers would want to buy any of the slop that will come out of Showrunner. Examples of the type of content the platform’s AI model can create can be found in the below X (Twitter) thread.

🚨ANNOUNCING SHOWRUNNER🚨

We believe the future is a mix of game & movie.

Simulations powering 1000s of Truman Shows populated by interactive AI characters.

🚨Welcome to Sim Francisco & Showrunner!🚨

SOUND ON!

Link to Signup in Bio pic.twitter.com/yptMocqOfW

— The Simulation (@fablesimulation) May 30, 2024

But hey, Saatchi also told The Hollywood Reporter that AI “can definitely make better episodes of The Simpsons today,” so if the thought of AI-generated animation surpassing a 30-plus-year-old show that’s clearly well past its prime is somehow appealing, you can sign up for Showrunner’s waitlist here.

Image credit: Fable

Source: The Hollywood Reporter