Google AI Wrote a (Really Good) Stargate Episode Script

pcmag.com:

Can artificial intelligence write a good script for an episode of Stargate? Apparently it can, and we can listen to the results tomorrow.

As VentureBeat reports(Opens in a new window), in June last year Stargate co-creator Brad Wright asked on Twitter(Opens in a new window): "Could a world-class AI write a #Stargate script interesting enough for the show's stars to perform at a reunion?"

The challenge was taken up by Laurence Moroney, AI Lead at Google, and a first script produced was by November. However, while a pretty good first attempt, the script contained a lot of gibberish, so Moroney decided to have another go using a few new techniques and a lot more learning.

For the second script, Moroney trained his AI model using every Stargate episode script ever produced, and combined that with pre-trained natural language models. He also stole an idea from language translation and used a technique called transformers to help the AI predict what a character should say based on some direction stated in the script.

Finally, a universal sentence encoder was employed, allowing semantics in sentences to be numerically encoded. By doing so, the AI can more easily understand how one sentence connects to the next and that avoids any gibberish finding its way into the script.

If you're wondering how well it turned out, we only have to wait until tomorrow to find out. Premium website TheCompanion is hosting a full table read performance(Opens in a new window) including Michael Shanks, Amanda Tapping, David Hewlett, and Jewel Staite reprising their roles from the show. And if the preview video above is anything to go by, the AI nailed it this time.

Wright believes the AI script offers a "unique idea" that "honors the show as it