Shonda Rhimes doesn’t think AI can entirely replace screenwriters like herself.
Shonda Rhimes doubts whether AI could replace the “human imagination”.
The 55-year-old TV producer acknowledges that AI is probably being used to scrape her scripts, but Shonda doesn’t think the technology can replicate the imagination and creativity of a human.
Shonda – who has enjoyed huge success with shows such as Bridgerton and Grey’s Anatomy – told Sky News: “There’s a danger of AI learning from my episodes, maybe it will learn to be better at what it does, but, most importantly, I don’t think that there’s any substitute for that germ of creativity that comes from a human imagination, I really don’t.”
Shonda has also pushed back against suggestions that Bridgerton – which features a diverse cast – is pandering to “woke” culture.
The producer explained: “The idea that I am writing the show looking like I look, that it wouldn’t occur to me that there should be more people in the show who look like me, I feel like that’s an obvious point. Why would I write something that doesn’t include me in any way?”
Earlier this month, Shonda explained that she sees Bridgerton as a “workplace drama”.
The acclaimed screenwriter – who serves as an executive producer on Bridgerton – rubbished the idea that the hit Netflix show is a conventional “romance” story.
Speaking at the Edinburgh TV festival, Shonda explained: “I didn’t see it as a romance. It was more of a workplace drama.
“The women don’t have power in other areas of their lives, the power is in how they marry, so it becomes a workplace. And that’s where the drama is.
“More importantly, I could see myself in them. If a black woman in 21st century America can see herself in regency England, it’s a good story.”
The show is based on the book series of the same name by Julia Quinn, and Shonda recalled reading the books for the first time in a hotel room.
She said: “I was sick, and in bed and I don’t even like romance novels.
“But I read it, and despite being ill, dragged myself out of bed and down to the nearest book shop to buy them all.”
Shonda Rhimes: AI can’t replicate the human imagination
