Deep Learning (South Park)
Stan Marsh uses ChatGPT for texts and essays.
In the South Park episode "Deep Learning," the 323rd installment and the fourth of season twenty-six, Trey Parker wrote and directed a story that aired on March 8, 2023. It mocks the ChatGPT chatbot, which is listed as a co-writer, and follows fourth-grader Stan Marsh as he uses the AI to compose schoolwork and love notes to his girlfriend, causing trouble with Wendy, his peers, and school staff.
Quick Facts
- Series
- South Park
- Season
- 26
- Episode
- 4
- Director
- Trey Parker
- Writer
- Trey Parker; ChatGPT
- Production
- 2604
- Air date
- 8 March 2023
Facts from the source article.
Plot
When Bebe Stevens gets excited about the romantic messages Clyde Donovan sends her, Wendy Testaburger complains to her boyfriend Stan Marsh that he only replies with a thumbs up. Clyde introduces Stan to ChatGPT, an AI app he uses to compose those texts, and tells him to keep it secret. Stan starts using the app to message Wendy while doing other things, and she feels happier about his more thoughtful replies, even though he can't honestly respond when she asks about them. Stan and Clyde also rely on ChatGPT for their homework, and soon Eric Cartman and Butters Stotch join in. Cartman worries that if too many classmates find out, they'll lose their edge and their teacher Mr. Garrison will catch them. Meanwhile, Garrison complains to his partner Rick about having to work harder grading essays. Rick mentions ChatGPT, and Garrison realizes he can use it to grade papers instead of figuring out that his students cheated. Mr. Mackey, the school counselor, tells the class that someone used OpenAI tech for schoolwork. A technician dressed like a falconer arrives with his falcon Shadowbane to scan the students' work and find the cheater. Stan and Garrison admit to each other that they both used ChatGPT, justifying it as just having a good writing assistant, but Garrison gets angry when he finds out Rick used the app to text him. The technician says Shadowbane detected chatbot writing on Wendy's phone, though she insists she didn't use it. Stuck for a way out, Stan asks ChatGPT to write a story where he convinces everyone it's fine that he lied, and where tech companies that profit from OpenAI shouldn't set the ethical rules for AI. The episode shows that story and its ending. Stan decides a simple thumbs up from a real person is better than fake machine-written words, but when Clyde asks how he got away with it, Stan just says, "ChatGPT, dude." The closing credits list the writers as Trey Parker and ChatGPT.
Reception
John Schwarz of Bubbleblabber rated the episode 7.5 out of 10, remarking that one day people will look back on it like they do on chimps sent to space when testing space flight, marveling at how far web3 show business production has come, and that Trey Parker's genius remains evident. Max Nocerino with The Future of the Force gave a B+ rating, calling the episode "brilliant" but noting the show is not as "hysterically funny as it used to be," citing this episode as an example. Nocerino stated it does not split his sides anymore, but he continues to watch and gives the episode props for understanding the double-edged sword of ChatGPT, and that South Park's strength is having its finger on the pulse of current events. Cathal Gunning of Screen Rant wrote that in keeping with South Park's self-satire, the ending was "intentionally far too tidy" and the scene ended the story "way too slickly," but was effective and clever. Gunning noted that when Stan used ChatGPT to end the episode, the resulting scene sounded like a lazy episode of South Park, leaning into tropes used ad nauseam, from Cartman's insults to Stan's impassioned speech to Mr. Mackey's long-forgotten catchphrase.
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