AI slop artists are redoing the ‘Squid Recreation’ sequence finale

Was the sequence finale of the hit South Korean Netflix present Squid Recreation a great one?

Relying on who you ask, not likely. Judging by the limitless on-line chatter, many viewers discovered the ending unsatisfying — not essentially as a result of it didn’t tie up unfastened ends (though it arguably didn’t), however as a result of it left the characters in an particularly grim place.

For others — notably these with some further time on their palms — it turned the proper excuse to fireplace up Google’s Veo 3 and craft a completely new ending.

Spoilers forward, however the ending of Squid Recreation Season 3 is bleak. Each this season and the one earlier than it explored the conflict of beliefs between Gi-hun, the present’s protagonist, and the Frontman (Lee Byung-hun), with Season 3 finally siding with the latter’s nihilistic view of humanity. Within the finale, Gi-hun faces an unattainable alternative: save himself, or sacrifice every thing to guard Participant 222’s new child baby over the last recreation. He chooses the latter, giving up his life so the newborn — an unsettlingly CGI-rendered creation — can dwell.

Viewers didn’t like it.

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In fact, fanfiction and alternate endings are nothing new. However utilizing AI to visualize these endings remains to be comparatively novel — and, frankly, unusual to look at. On TikTok and Instagram, creators utilizing Google Veo 3 have been producing new variations of the finale. Some characteristic Gi-hun kicking the CGI child off a platform; others depict Participant 222 surviving the Leap Rope recreation and occurring to lift her baby. There’s additionally the one the place Gi-hun has a knife combat with the newborn. It is positively disturbing stuff.

There’s lots to say about Squid Recreation’s ending itself — like how extending the sequence past its first season arguably undermines the present’s authentic critique of capitalism. However there’s one thing else at play right here: the rising urge to make use of AI to “repair” tales that had been deliberately written to depart viewers unsettled.

Are these AI-generated movies meant to be taken significantly? Probably not. However they’re additionally a glimpse of the place issues are heading—towards a future the place anybody can simply remake or reshape a narrative to suit their very own most well-liked model of occasions.

Whether or not that’s thrilling or unsettling will depend on how you’re feeling concerning the recreation itself.