AI’s Doctor Who: A Test of Artificial Creativity
If there’s one thing Doctor Who fans enjoy, it’s discussing and debating the essence of a compelling story. This passion often manifests in fan fiction, with some of these writers eventually transitioning to professional roles. Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat, Paul Cornell, and Chris Chibnall all began this way. The current debate centers on what constitutes a good Doctor Who storyline, with some fans arguing that the show’s style has changed over time.
To examine this, we tested an AI’s creative capabilities by asking it to write a Doctor Who episode. We used ChatGPT, providing minimal instructions—simply requesting the AI to think like a British TV writer and create an episode plot.
The AI’s Creation: “The Glass Horizon”
Doctor: Fifteenth Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) Companion: Ruby Sunday
Cold Open: A luxury hyper-train travels across the surface of Aquilion-5, an ocean planet. Passengers, composed of wealthy elites, celebrities, and powerful figures, are enjoying cocktails. Suddenly, the train stops, and the windows start to liquefy. A shadowy figure appears, wearing an old-fashioned conductor’s uniform.
Act One: The TARDIS materializes in the train’s engine room. The Doctor and Ruby sense something is amiss as the air shimmers. Commander Vaylen, the security officer, initially mistakes them for stowaways. A passenger phases through a wall and disappears. The Doctor analyzes the residue, identifying “temporal degradation.”
Act Two: Investigating, they find a hidden carriage, a time capsule containing The Horizon Engine that allows glimpses into possible futures. The engine runs on stolen fragments of time from collapsed stars. The Glassman appears, a spectral entity made of shifting glass, and whispers hints of fractured futures. The Doctor realizes the Glassman isn’t an enemy, but a warning; the train is trapped between two possible futures and could soon cease to exist.
Act Three: The Glassman reveals sabotage: someone on board tampered with the engine to rewrite their future. Suspicion falls on Dr. Hexton, but the logs implicate the train’s owner, Lorrien Cass, a billionaire seeking to rewrite her own death.
Act Four: To stabilize time, they reverse the Horizon Engine, which requires enormous energy. The Doctor sacrifices a Time Lord pocket watch, infusing the engine with his energy. The train returns to normal as the Glassman shatters. The Doctor warns Cass about the immutable nature of time. Cass agrees to shut down the project. Ruby asks if the Glassman was a monster. The Doctor muses that it might just be time observing itself.
AI vs. Human: Strengths and Limitations
AIs use large language models and advanced search engines. By studying available internet content, they can assemble information. ChatGPT understood the current Doctor and companion and the episode’s pacing. The AI crafted an original concept and a Doctor Who plot, and the plot line was fairly logical.
“The Glass Horizon” follows a traditional, classic Doctor Who format, but lacks the emotional depth and character development that mark modern storytelling. This plot-driven approach reflects the older style of the show, where plot often overshadowed characterization. While the AI created a functional plot, it fell short of the emotional resonance central to contemporary Doctor Who stories. It could serve as a placeholder, suitable for a story featuring any Doctor.
In sum, AI can generate a basic narrative structure, but it struggles with authentic emotional storytelling, which showcases the human element in creative writing, and can create relatable and exciting characters.
