Katri Manninen

Did I or AI Write This? An Exploration of the Screenwriter’s Sense of Authorship in Human-AI Collaboration

Aalto University, Finland

In my presentation, I will share the preliminary findings from my practice-based research on human-AI collabora-on and the sense of authorship. To explore how working with AI impacts a seasoned screenwriter’s sense of authorship, I am ideating and writing the first draft of a feature film screenplay using three AI agent types (chatbots). These represent three stages of the ideation process: a Co-Writer bot for collaborative ideation, a Critic bot for pruning outdated and weak ideas, and a Consultant bot for analyzing story needs. I’m documenting my interactions through a think-aloud protocol and analyzing them using thematic analysis to identify shias in my sense of authorship when leveraging each bot’s unique capabilities. This research aims to uncover best practices for integrating AI into the screenwriting process, capitalizing on its collaborative potential while sustaining the human screenwriter’s agency and authority.

Rather than viewing AI merely as a tool, this study challenges existing perceptions by emphasizing the collaborative, conversational abilities of interacting with ar-ficial intelligence. In my presentation, I aim to answer two questions:

1. How does using different AI chatbots affect the ideation process and sense of authorship?

2. What strategies and techniques for working with AI can preserve and augment the writer’s sense of authorship?

Katri Manninen is a doctoral student at Aalto University researching screenwriters’ sense of
authorship, with a focus on artificial intelligence collaboration. A professional screenwriter based
in Southern Finland, she has over 25 years of experience writing for television, film, and publishing.
Manninen has wrihen or co-written 4 produced feature films, 29 published books, and worked as a
screenwriter on 17 TV series, having created 12 of those shows. Her thriller series Shadow Lines
won global acclaim and nods from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal. In her doctoral
thesis, Manninen investigates how working with different AI chatbots (co-writer, critic, analyst)
impacts seasoned screenwriters’ sense of authorship.