21st CENTURY HEADLINES: The Popular TV Plots That Won’t Make Sense in an AI World.

TV writers, it’s time to up your game. AI is about to wear out your most well-worn plotlines.

Don’t get me wrong: I like formulaic TV as much as anybody. Many of my favorite TV moments unfolded around classic tropes like the legal precedent uncovered at the 11th hour, the shocking paternity revelation or the prolonged dance of will-they-or-won’t they. Great writing, engaging characters or gorgeous costume design can redeem even the most predictable plot.

But that only works if the underlying structure makes sense—and thanks to artificial intelligence, many of our most familiar plotlines are about to look as dated as an ad exec with a flip phone.

Here are some of those old standbys that may soon need to land on the cutting-room floor.

The last-minute courtroom reveal

There is little more satisfying than the sudden and dramatic discovery of an obscure legal precedent or a little bit of fine print that allows the underdog to win a class-action lawsuit. Our legal star saves the day, again.

Nothing, though, is obscure to an AI. It will find the relevant legal precedent or loophole before the ink is dry on that retainer fee. So there go all the dramatic scenes where some junior lawyer shows up just before closing arguments, clutching the document or case law that wins the day.

AI is poised to do what the introduction of the smart phone has done in recent years, and render so many old movies and TV series anachronisms in a high-tech age.