This past week, a Willy Wonka-inspired event dubbed "Willy's Chocolate Experience" became infamous for being a spectacular failure, leading to its abrupt shutdown and intervention by local police as attendees demanded refunds for their £35 tickets, labeling the event an "absolute shambles."
Actors Express Concerns Over AI-Generated Script
Actors involved in the event have voiced their concerns, suspecting the involvement of Artificial Intelligence in crafting the event's peculiar script.
Paul Connell, an actor and comedian cast as Willy Wonka, shared with the Independent his bafflement at the script's content, describing it as "15 pages of AI-generated gibberish."
He recounted being instructed to say bewildering lines such as, "There is a man we don't know his name. We know him as the Unknown. This Unknown is an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls."
Kirsty Paterson, who took on the role of an Oompa-Loompa, told Vulture about the organizers' vague direction on improvisation, leading her to suspect AI's hand in the script creation.
"They kept going on about how you could just improvise," Paterson recalled. "I kind of thought it was AI-generated, but by this point, I'd signed the contract."
Jenny Fogarty, another actor hired for the event, expressed to the Daily Mail her and her partner's suspicions that AI was responsible for the script after reading through the oddly written stage directions.
Online Speculation and Scrutiny
The script, shared online, has sparked widespread speculation regarding its AI origins, with social media users pointing out its unconventional directions for audience reactions. One X user humorously noted the script's "bold and radical gesture to provide stage directions dictating exactly when the audience will laugh, chuckle, 'murmur affirmatively' and be 'visibly amused.'"
Despite the curiosity, there's no definitive proof that AI generated the script. Business Insider, upon reviewing the script, reported ChatGPT's response that it was "difficult to be certain" about the script's AI origins.
Event's Bizarre Promises and Organizer's Silence
The event's website, still active, features language that mirrors the script's bizarre nature, promising "catgacating," "exarserdray lollipops," and a "pasadise of sweet teats" in its Entertainment section. The "Imagination Lab" was described as a "surreal journey where the boundaries between reality and fantasy harmoniously merge."
House of Illuminati, the organization behind the event, has yet to comment on the allegations of AI involvement in the scriptwriting process. Their website's use of AI-style images has only added to the speculation.
