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"Deep Learning" is the fourth episode of the twenty-sixth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 323rd episode of the series overall. Directed by Trey Parker, it premiered on March 8, 2023. The episode, which parodies the use of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT for text messages, centers upon fourth-grader Stan Marsh, who comes to rely on the software for writing both school essays and romantic texts to his girlfriend, bringing him into conflict with both her, his classmates, and school officials.

Plot

When fourth-grader Bebe Stevens extols the romantic texts written by Clyde Donovan, classmate Wendy Testaburger complains to her own boyfriend, Stan Marsh, that his replies to her messsages consist of merely a thumbs up. Stan goes to Clyde, who tells him about ChatGPT, an AI-based app which he uses to write the texts, but cautions Stan not to tell anyone else about it. Stan comes to rely on the app to text and write stories for Wendy while he engages in other pastimes. Wendy is buoyed by Stan's more heartfelt texts, though Stan is unable to respond to her questions about the details of these writings.

Stan and Clyde also use the app to help them write their school essays, as do their classmates Eric Cartman and Butters Stotch. Cartman complains that if more students learn about it, they will lose their unfair advantage, and their teacher, Mr. Garrison, will learn they cheated. Garrison, meanwhile, laments to his partner, Rick, that he now has to work harder to grade and comment on his students' essays. Rick tells him about ChatGPT, but instead of realizing that his students used it to write essays, Garrison realizes he can use it to grade the papers. He thanks Rick for his supportive replies to Garrison's texts.

School counselor Mr. Mackey informs Stan's class that a student is using OpenAI technology for their work. A "technician" dressed as a falconer, and his falcon Shadowbane, are hired to analyze the students' work and identify the cheater. Stan and Garrison confess to each other that they have been using the app. They rationalize that using such apps is merely akin to having a good writers assistant, but when Garrison learns it can be used for texting, he is angered to realize that Rick has been using it to text him. The technician announces that Shadowbane detected chatbot writing in Wendy's cell phone, though she denies using the app. Stan worries that he is not creative enough to think of a way out of this, so he instructs the app to write a story that is resolved when he convinces everyone that it is okay that he lied about using the app, and that tech companies who monetize OpenAI should not determine the ethical limits of AI. The remainder of the episode depicts this story and the resolution. Stan observes that sometimes a thumbs up from a human is better than a machine-generated lie, but when Clyde asks Stan how he pulled this off, Stan simply says, "ChatGPT, dude."

Production

In the closing credits, the writers of the episode are credited as both Trey Parker and ChatGPT.

Reception

John Schwarz with Bubbleblabber rated the episode a 7.5 out of 10, stating in his review "one day we're going to look back on this episode like we do when we think of the many chimps that we've sent to outer space when testing space flight capabilities and marvel at how far we’ve come in web3 show business production. Trey Parker's genius is still quite evident in this week’s episode, in just a few seasons, we may not even need that."

Max Nocerino with The Future of the Force awarded the episode a B+ rating and closed out his review stating "it just doesn't split my sides anymore. Perhaps like all things, nothing lasts forever. Yet, I will continue to watch and give this episode props for understanding the double-edged sword that is ChatGPT. One of South Park's strengths is that it has its finger on the pulse of current events. And knows how to rip them to shreds."

Cathal Gunning, in his review for Screen Rant, stated how the final scene showed elements of being written by an AI program, as he states "When Stan used ChatGPT to end the episode's story, the resulting scene sounded very familiar since the sequence that was supposedly written by AI sounded like a lazy episode of South Park. From Cartman's insults to Stan's impassioned ending speech to Mr. Mackey's long-forgotten catchphrase, the final scenes of 'Deep Learning' leaned into tropes that South Park has used ad nauseam."

References

1. Flook, Ray (March 6, 2023). "South Park Season 26 Promo: Stan's Love Life Getting ChatGPT Upgrade". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
2. "South Park's 26th season continues Wednesday, March 8th at 10pm ET/PT on Comedy Central With 'Deep Learning'". South Park Studios. Archived from the original on March 7, 2023. Retrieved March 8, 2023.
3. Schwarz, John (March 9, 2023). "Review: South Park "DEEP LEARNING"". Bubbleblabber.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
4. Nocerino, Max (March 9, 2023). "TV Review | South Park (S26.E4 Deep Learning)". thefutureoftheforce.com. Retrieved March 12, 2023.
5. Gunning, Cathal (March 9, 2023). "How South Park Season 26 Brutally Mocked Itself With AI Satire". Screen Rant. Retrieved March 12, 2023.

External links

• "Deep Learning" Full Episode at South Park Studios
• "Deep Learning" at IMDb
• Vainilavičius, Justinas (March 8, 2023). "ChatGPT, dude: viral chatbot makes it to 'South Park'". Cybernews. Archived from the original on March 8, 2023.

• South Park (season 26) episodes
• Television episodes about artificial intelligence