[1][2] The episode, which parodies the use of the artificial intelligence chatbot ChatGPT (which is credited as a co-writer for the episode) for text messages, centers upon fourth-grader Stan Marsh, who comes to rely on the software for writing both school essays and romantic texts to his girlfriend Wendy Testaburger, bringing him into conflict with her, his classmates, and school officials.
When fourth-grader Bebe Stevens extols the romantic texts written to her by Clyde Donovan, classmate Wendy Testaburger complains to her boyfriend, Stan Marsh, that his replies to her messages consist of merely a thumbs up.
Stan and Clyde also use the app to write their school essays, as do their classmates Eric Cartman and Butters Stotch.
The technician reveals Shadowbane detected chatbot writing in Wendy's cell phone, though she denies using the app.
Worrying he cannot think of a way out of this, Stan instructs ChatGPT to write a story that is resolved when he convinces everyone that it is okay that he lied about using the app, and that tech companies who monetize OpenAI should not determine the ethical limits of AI.
From Cartman's insults to Stan's impassioned ending speech to Mr. Mackey's long-forgotten catchphrase, the final scenes of 'Deep Learning' leaned into tropes that South Park has used ad nauseam.