AI = DOA

To examine the shortcoming or excellence of AI as a way to create film and story plots that work, I instructed an AI synopsis generator to create a storyline for me. The story synopsis at the top, below, is what the bot came up with. The synopsis under it is my version of it. Take a look at what I have done and ask why, and why it works to improve the AI synopsis. What's different? Do we see here one of the many reasons why so many bad stories get told in film and otherwise.

The AI generated story plot

James Whitmore sits in a dim corner of MI6's cyber division at Vauxhall Cross, surrounded by multiple monitors displaying streams of encrypted data, code, and network diagnostics. He's spent seven years analyzing digital signatures and threat patterns while watching field operatives receive accolades for fieldwork, feeling relegated to a support role that nobody celebrates. His expertise is encyclopedic but his confidence is eroding; he drowns in routine vulnerability reports and benign security audits, wondering if he's wasted his career in the shadows.

At 11:47 PM on a Thursday night, simultaneous power fluctuations ripple across London, Manchester, and Bristol—lasting exactly ninety seconds before systems stabilize, causing minor disruptions but no apparent harm. James notices something others dismiss: buried in the network logs is a malware signature he's never encountered before, one with characteristics suggesting state-sponsored sophistication and modular architecture designed for escalation. His hands tremble as he traces the digital fingerprints backward, realizing this isn't a random glitch but a calculated probe of the UK's electrical infrastructure.

James urgently presents his findings to Director Catherine Hayes, a pragmatic veteran skeptical of phantom threats, but his passion and technical evidence convince her to authorize a covert investigation before alerting the government. She assigns him a small team and grants him forty-eight hours to build a compelling case; if his theory holds, they'll brief the Joint Intelligence Committee with actionable intelligence rather than speculation. James accepts the responsibility with grim determination, understanding this is his chance to prove that cyber threats deserve the same resources and respect as traditional espionage.

James's team begins tracing the malware's origin points, discovering it routes through multiple proxy servers across Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, pointing toward a state actor with significant resources and tradecraft. As they peel back layers of obfuscation, they uncover evidence of preparation spanning months—reconnaissance of critical infrastructure, mapping of redundancy systems, and mathematical models predicting cascade failures. The scope expands terrifyingly: this isn't merely an attack on the power grid but a complex, multi-stage operation designed to cripple hospitals, water treatment facilities, telecommunications networks, and financial systems simultaneously.

James's trusted partner and mentor, Dr. Sarah Chen, reveals herself to be a Chinese intelligence operative who has been feeding real-time intelligence to the attackers, explaining that the operation was designed to destabilize Britain's economy and geopolitical standing. She apologizes with genuine regret as she sedates him, confessing that she was compromised years ago and has been living a double life, deeply embedded within MI6's cyber division with access to everything. James awakens to the horrifying realization that the breach extends far deeper into the agency than he imagined—multiple agents may be compromised, and the attackers now possess intimate knowledge of MI6's countermeasures and response protocols.

The cyber-attack accelerates dramatically as the attackers, now aware they've been discovered, activate the full scope of their operation hours ahead of schedule. Hospital systems across England begin failing, forcing emergency manual protocols and limiting life-saving care; water treatment facilities lose chlorination controls, threatening contamination; mobile networks fragment as routing algorithms are corrupted. James watches in real-time as London's Tube system halts mid-operation, stranding thousands underground, while ATMs go dark and emergency services lose their digital infrastructure—the cascading failures unfold like a slow-motion apocalypse.

Police arrive at James's flat with arrest warrants, accusing him of being the architect behind the attack, armed with fabricated digital evidence that Chen planted to frame him as a rogue operative. He's handcuffed, humiliated in front of colleagues, and locked in an interrogation room where he watches on monitors as the attack reaches critical mass—hospitals declaring emergencies, water shortages spreading across the Midlands, and the government announcing martial law. The irony is suffocating: the one person who understands the attack is imprisoned while the real culprits operate freely, and every moment he spends defending himself is another moment the nation bleeds.

James escapes custody during a transfer vehicle ambush, using his intimate knowledge of London's geography and emergency protocols to evade pursuit, eventually infiltrating the attackers' server farm hidden beneath a commercial office building in Canary Wharf. He manually navigates the facility's security systems and reaches the master command infrastructure, where he implements a cascading kill-switch that Chen had once mentioned in passing—a vulnerability in the malware's core architecture designed to prevent the attackers themselves from losing control. James triggers the sequence, watching screens flash and systems collapse as the malware self-destructs across the entire network; the attack dies like a light switching off, infrastructure systems begin recovering, and the nation gasps back to life.

The aftermath exposes the conspiracy fully: Chen and a network of five other MI6 officers are arrested; the Chinese government issues denials while quietly removing assets; and James is exonerated.

My iteration of the above story synopsis:

‘TRUCE’

Bored data analyst CAL TRUCE (38) sits in a dim corner of MI6's cyber division. Monitors display encrypted data, code, and network diagnostics. (He's spent seven years analysing digital signatures and threat patterns while watching field operatives receive accolades for fieldwork he could have done better. Relegated to a support role after a CATASTROPHIC SITUATION that he was blamed for while a field operative, he now feels unused and unappreciated. He also feels wronged.) Cal’s expertise is encyclopaedic, but his confidence is shot. He drowns in routine system reports and security audits. He feels wasted and ALONE.

His attention SNAPS INTO FOCUS as simultaneous power fluctuations ripple across the UK. Each lasts ninety seconds. They cause minor disruptions but no apparent harm. Cal REACTS. He finds what others dismiss: buried in the network logs of the incident, he discovers a malware signature that suggests state-sponsored sophistication and modular architecture designed for escalation. Working alone, he traces the digital fingerprints backward, realizing this isn't a random glitch but a calculated probe of the UK's electrical infrastructure.

Cal urgently presents his findings to his boss: MI6 Director CATERINA HAES, (57) a pragmatic, sceptical veteran. Eloquent and energized by the emergency, Cal persuades Haes that they need to act, and fast. Aware if Cal’s track record and quality, she agrees to authorize a covert investigation before alerting the government. Though she is breaking protocol by doing so because Cal is considered a liability by some, Haes assigns Cal a work partner and grants him 48 hours to build a compelling case; if his theory holds, they'll brief the Joint Intelligence Committee with actionable intelligence rather than speculation. Cal accepts the responsibility with grim determination. He relishes getting away from his desk.

Cal finds out that his ex-lover and colleague ARAL CHENDA (32) is his partner in this op.

Cal and Aral manage to work together – just - despite their legacy of mutual emotion.

As a team, they begin tracing the malware's origin points, discovering it routes through multiple proxy servers across the Middle East. They uncover evidence of preparation spanning months—reconnaissance of critical infrastructure, mapping of redundancy systems, and mathematical models predicting cascade failures. As tension between them comes to the boil, they discover that this isn't merely an attack on the power grid but a complex, multi-stage operation designed to cripple hospitals, water treatment facilities, telecommunications networks, and financial systems simultaneously. But now ...

Following his instincts, Cal discovers that Chenda is a covert Chinese intelligence operative. She has been feeding real-time intelligence to the attackers. He confronts her after sex.

They fight. SHE SHOOTS HIM, INJURING HIM BADLY, before he overwhelms and disarms her. He asks her ‘why?’ She tells him that the end of their intimate relationship made her give up on so much – her morality included. When their love ended, she went into freefall. She sold out to the Chinese, yielding to self-loathing and big money. She has been living a double life, deeply embedded within MI6's cyber division with access to everything. She knows Cal is now duty bound to out her to Haes. She also knows he is massively conflicted about doing so because she will go to prison, or the Chinese will take her out.

They part company. Cal knows that because of her, the attackers now possess intimate knowledge of MI6's countermeasures and response protocols. He must act fast.

Alone, encrypted, Chenda tells her Chinese cohort that she has been outed. Her peers act: They fast-track their proxy cyber-attack. Acting on new orders from Beijing, in the Middle East, the faceless attackers activate the full scope of their operation ahead of schedule.

Hospital systems across England begin failing, forcing emergency manual protocols and limiting life-saving care; water treatment facilities lose chlorination controls, threatening contamination; mobile networks fragment as routing algorithms are corrupted.

The London Tube halts mid-operation, stranding thousands underground. ATMs go dark and emergency services fail — the cascading failures unfold like a slow-motion apocalypse.

Bleeding out, Cal barely makes it back to his London flat. But he is being followed.

On his encrypted Mac, fighting pain and blood loss, Cal pinpoints the location of the attackers' servers in Canary Wharf as …. (ordered by Haes, who is privately sad to have trusted in Cal again and been proved wrong about him) …armed MI6 officers break into Cal's flat.

They accuse him of being the architect behind the attack. They cite (fabricated) digital evidence (that Chenda planted to frame him as a rogue operative who unleashed the cyber-attack as a way to get himself operational again, and out of bitterness at being sidelined).

Cal is handcuffed and given medical attention. He is locked in an interrogation as, across the country, the attack reaches critical mass. The government announcing martial law.

Cal fights his way out. His GSW wound bleeds. He weakens fast. In a stolen Ministry car, he races across town to Canary Wharf. Police and covert agents pursue him. Cal breaks into the attackers' server farm hidden beneath a commercial office building in Canary Wharf.

Hacking in, he navigates the facility's cyber security systems and reaches the master command infrastructure. There, he implements a cascading kill-switch — a vulnerability in the malware's core architecture designed to prevent the attackers themselves from losing control. Cal triggers the sequence, watching screens flash and systems collapse as the malware self-destructs across the entire network. As officers find him and hold him under arrest at gunpoint, the nationwide attack ceases. Infrastructure systems begin recovering.

Shocked, the country comes back to ordinary life … as does a child called HANI (6) who RELIES ON LIFE SUPPORT SYSTEMS that now work again in St Thomas’s Hospital.

At war with himself, Cal now exposes Chenda to Haes. She are arrested. The Chinese government issues denials while quietly removing assets. Cal is exonerated. His GSW will heal, slowly, but his heart will long bleed for Chenda’s betrayal and demise.

~

If you can see what I've done and know why, or like what I've done, get in touch to see how I can improve your film script synopsis. Making your screenplay story as good as it can be before your write the script is essential; but not as essential as getting the story of the film as good as it can be before production begins - something that many filmmakers fail to do.