According to Far Out, South Park co-creators Matt Stone (Orgazmo, That’s My Bush!) and Trey Parker (Team America: World Police, That’s My Bush!) tackle the hot topic issue of AI chatbots in the fourth episode of the latest season, “Deep Learning.” This marked a departure from their typical modern-day satire, as seen in the third episode. Another shocker: the co-creators used ChatGPT to write parts of the episode, according to IFLScience.

On March 9, 2023, the fourth episode of the 26th season of South Park aired, featuring South Park Elementary students discovering a new technology that can write their homework. It is probable that this experience is occurring in schools and colleges across the globe at present. The male students at the school soon realize that the AI can be used for an even more significant purpose – conversing with girls.

“There’s a bunch of apps and programs you can subscribe to that use OpenAI to do all of your writing for you. People use them to write poems, write job applications, but what they’re really good for is dealing with chicks,” Clyde explains to Stan, according to Comedy.com.

As the boys’ use of the AI program becomes more apparent, the school administration grows suspicious and introduces a peculiar AI detector named Shadowbane to uncover the perpetrators, leading to a series of complications. In the episode’s climax, Stan uses Chat GPT to devise a plan to escape trouble, which is revealed in the final credits to have been written by the AI itself. The AI-generated ending of the episode, filled with expected catchphrases and a stereotypical “happy ending,” emphasizes the predictability commonly found in long-running comedies. Parker and Stone masterfully parody their own writing style with this clever twist.

Stan’s final monologue, which is a recurring element of the show, advocates for the open-source availability of AI programming, shifting the blame from the technology itself to corporations who hoard information. Parker and Stone’s recent efforts to revamp the South Park format include two-part specials, hour-long episodes, and serialized seasons that follow a singular overarching story, with the experimental finale adding to this trend. Moreover, the AI-written episode suggests that the co-creators may continue to delve into the realm of big tech in the future, especially considering their $20 million investment in their AI studio, Deep Voodoo, in December 2022, according to Far Out.

Watch the latest episodes of South Park on Comedy Central.