Distinction between Screenplay Texts Written by Humans and Generated by AI: a Preliminary Study with Film Students [Distinción entre textos de guion escritos por humanos y generados por IA: un estudio preliminar con estudiantes de Cine] Distinción entre textos de guion escritos por humanos y generados por IA: un estudio preliminar con estudiantes de Cine [Distinction between Screenplay Texts Written by Humans and Generated by AI: a Preliminary Study with Film Students]

Abstract

The majority of the uncertainties surrounding the development of artificial intelligence (AI) in contexts such as academia or professional environments are related to a certain intrusion of technology, not only because it performs tasks traditionally done by humans, but also because it does so in a way that can be difficult to identify. This article presents a study conducted on 24 students from the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd years of the Bachelor's degree in Film Studies at the University of the Mid-Atlantic. The sample was chosen under the assumption that the students possess mature judgment regarding the topic investigated. The subjects were provided with three versions of the same scene from a script, along with a questionnaire in which they had to distinguish the origin, either human or generative artificial intelligence, of each text. Among the three texts provided to each individual, there was purely human production and synthetic text from various sources (ChatGPT and Gemini). Although the scope of this study is limited by the sample size, it aims to provide an example of quantitative analysis on the identification of artificial authorship in texts framed within a literary context. The collected results point to the need to pay attention to this technological development and its integration into creative industries such as the film industry. Additionally, we conducted a qualitative analysis of the responses given by the participants in the questionnaire, delving into their perceptions, preferences, and the underlying reasoning behind their choices. Through thematic analysis, key insights were highlighted on how students perceive the creative outputs of artificial intelligence compared to human-created and written content. Notably, while some participants demonstrated a sharp ability to discern between AI-generated texts and human-written ones based on stylistic nuances, others expressed uncertainty or even favored the AI-generated content for its perceived novelty or ingenuity