It is hard to count the sheer number of discussions about artificial intelligence that have occurred in the past few years. Turn on the news and it is usually a mix of war reports, American politics, and some new AI development.
This week’s development was Amazon’s announcement of an AI streaming platform that creates animated series for the user upon request. Fable Studio, the studio behind a series of AI-generated South Park clips, is behind the creation of “Showrunner”, the official title of the app.
Interestingly enough, the Hollywood Reporter covered this news all the way back in May of 2024, where Fable CEO Edward Saatchi made potentially inflammatory comments about the capabilities of AI and the effectiveness of Showrunner. Yet it wasn’t until recently that the service went live (editor’s note: I first heard about this at the beginning of August. People on the internet have been making videos about their experiences with Showrunner for a month or so at the time of this writing).
Variety posted an article more recently (July 30th) about Showrunner, with an influx of additional information surrounding the service. As of now, Showrunner is a free service, but will eventually cost some 10-20 dollars a month in the future. Given the capabilities of generative AI, essentially anything goes for creators using the app, from making original new series to using pre-existing IP for crossovers and new content. For fans of IP, this seems to be a tempting prospect (editor’s note #2: Does this mean we can see a fully-animated A Song of Ice and Fire adaptation frequently brought up on Reddit threads?), being able to create professional-quality animations about beloved characters and potentially continuing stories.
The Variety article also states that Fable Studio is in talks with Disney and Hollywood Studios about licensing Showrunner as an official platform, which could potentially alleviate copyright issues that would surely arise given the abilities of the app. However, while talks are apparently happening, there is or will be an app that allows any manner of animated show to be released and shared on social media with no copyrighting. It is a media fanatic’s dream – but a creator’s nightmare.
Showrunner is available to join right now. For the curious, it might be something interesting to check out and try. On the positive side, it allows for normal people to create stories that they want to experience. But for those who try, remember what it is taking away from creators who have devoted their lives to telling stories. Right now, Showrunner can create animated shows, but imagine where it could be in a decade? Could photorealistic, “live action” AI generated movies or TV shows be on the way? It is both an exciting and terrifying prospect.
The age of streaming services has taken away the original feel of watching television, with many removing commercial breaks (or at least removing most of them). Binge-watching culture has also removed the need to wait between episodes, thus decreasing patience in viewers. Now, with the ability to create an endless stream of content, with nothing but your imagination as the limit, will this be the latest death of attention spans?
Unfortunately, it seems to be upon us.
