In 2023, Andor creator and showrunner Tony Gilroy announced at an FYC event that the team was planning to make a website featuring all 12 scripts from the show’s first season. Two years later, that site is still not online, and now we know why. Speaking to Collider this week ahead of the premiere of Andor season 2, Gilroy explained that he decided against releasing the scripts from the Disney+ show because he was worried about AI.
“I wanted to do it,” Gilroy said. “We put it together. It’s really cool. I’ve seen it, I loved it. AI is the reason we’re not. In the end, it would be 1,500 pages that came directly off this desk. I mean, terribly sadly, it’s just too much of an X-ray and too easily absorbed. Why help the f***ing robots any more than you can? So, it was an ego thing. It was vanity that makes you want to do it, and the downside is real. So, vanity loses.”
As Gilroy astutely observes, the minute the scripts landed on the internet, every large language model in existence would immediately absorb them for training. Gilroy would rather the work of he and his colleagues not be used to train AI.
Given the concerns surrounding AI in Hollywood, particularly in light of the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike, it’s no surprise that some filmmakers are staunchly against it. The backlash over AI use in recent Oscar winner The Brutalist was swift and severe. While some creators are still forming their views on the technology, Gilroy has clearly made up his mind.
The scripts may never see the light of day, but Andor season 2 will premiere on Disney+ on April 22. Three episodes will be released at a time, each taking place a year apart as Cassian Andor (Diego Luna) becomes more ingrained in the rebellion.
You can also watch the first three episodes of Andor for free on YouTube right now.
