Rise of the robots: from comedy to dance, the Edinburgh Fringe shows taking on Artificial Intelligence


“Artificially Intelligent is a comedy exploration of the increasingly pervasive role of artificial intelligence in our daily lives, in the form of a stand-up musical comedy special,” says comedian Anesti Danelis, whose show is one of many this August that touches upon a hot-button social and political topic of the moment: Artificial Intelligence.
“It was inspired by the time I asked ChatGPT to write me a hilarious musical comedy show based on my life,” he continues. “I had to provide it with information about me, and after spilling out my guts to this AI program it gave me the most garbage, distilled and culturally flattened song about who it thinks I am. It took everything human out of my life and reduced me to stereotypes. I thought, is it bad, or is it really, really good and I’m just pretentious? Only one way to find out: perform it for an audience. AI has a voice and character within the show, which allows me to have a direct and humorous dialogue with it. It becomes a foil for exploring human fears and hopes about technology.”
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Hide AdComedian and sometime science communicator Ted Hill, whose show 110 Percent Normal was also inspired by Artificial Intelligence, has mixed feelings about the technology. “I’m a bit scared of AI, but I figure it’s better to learn how to use it rather than hope it’ll go away. I’m also very excited, because AI – when content is labelled as such – can be very funny, precisely because it’s not human. My show is about what it means to be normal or weird as a comedian, and in order to do that I’ve had to design an AI that often fails at its job in a funny way. I’ve created a chatbot that does crowd work as a comedian, but if we didn’t all know it was an AI, what it comes up with wouldn’t be at all funny.”
As you might expect in Edinburgh in August, responses to the subject are varied and esoteric. Transhumanist is a dance piece about technology and its potential future effect on humans. “It’s about upgrading the human body and mind, such as achieving superintelligence or teletherapy, the ability to cure diseases and injuries both physical and mental, and eventually the eradication of diseases and injuries from society,” says choreographer Lene Boel. “Immortality is also presented as a possibility with AI, and how it will be important to choose if this will be desirable or not. AI is also about improving emotional intelligence to a level where people are extremely aware, not only of their own but also of other people’s feelings, to create superpowers of empathy. I think AI is good when not used to try and replace humans, but when it’s used to upgrade what skills humans already have. It’s a dangerous tool when it’s only accessible to people with money and is used only in the interest of making financial profit and gaining more power.”


The Korean musical You & It is set in a near future where creating an AI with a person's memories has become possible. “Our show revolves around a man who builds an AI robot with the memories of his deceased wife,” says director and composer Eunggyu Lee. “‘What makes us human?’ is an age-old question. With the advancement of AI, this question can no longer be dismissed as mere philosophical speculation. From the concept of a brain in a jar to AI that fully replicates our memories, from artificial bodies with transplanted human brains like Robocop, to avatars in the metaverse, where do we draw the line between ‘you’ and ‘it’? As technology advances, defining our existence and human dignity will become increasingly complex and challenging. I hope audiences who come to see You & It will reflect on the meaning of each other's existence alongside the characters.”
The arts, of course, is an area where the possibilities of AI are viewed warily, in that it could have very real and destructive effects upon humans in the industry. “Instructions is about acting and AI,” says writer/director Nathan Hill of their show at Summerhall. “It’s performed by a different unrehearsed actor every day, and they tell a story about An Actor. It exists in the shadow of conversations during the strike by actors and writers last year, where people were concerned about being replaced by AI. Our show uses acting as a metaphor for creativity generally, asking what we mean by it in a context where algorithms are being used to make art.
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Hide Ad“If a machine can generate art that's as good as anything humans can make, how does that help us reconsider what we mean by ‘good art’? Instructions is a fun, horror-inflected show, like nothing else you're going to see this Fringe. It’s also a love letter to the craft of acting, and I hope audiences have a chance to have faith in humanity's specialness. We shouldn't give up on humans so easily.”
Two shows by the same producers at Gilded Balloon Patter House engage critically with AI, for adult and young audiences. “Artificial Intelligence Improvisation is our pioneering improv comedy show with AI, which we started in 2016,” says Piotr Mirowski. “It’s for a general audience and addresses conversations about human agency or about deep fakes, at the same time showcasing the ingenuity of human improvisers.
“A.L.Ex and the ImpRobots! is a show for kids and the whole family where young audience members learn fun facts about science. We hope audiences will come away with a deeper understanding of why AI should not be relied upon without critical human engagement, and we also want kids to think about the value of their own creativity and unique voices, that at best are amplified with technology, but can also be held back by that technology if relied on too much.”


AI also comes up in Duncan Hodgkinson’s play Dante and the Robot, a dark comedy set in a future Western metropolis. “We have a robot on stage interacting with Dante and supporting him through his emotional turbulence,” says Hodgkinson. “One of the questions we ask is, how does our constant connection to technology affect our ability to relate to others and to ourselves?”
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Hide AdIn his show The World’s Cleverest Idiot, comedy songwriter Mitch Benn examines different types of intelligence, so obviously AI was something he wanted to consider. “Right now it’s being hyped up to be something it’s not,” says Benn. “That’s not to say it won’t ever become truly sentient and that’s gonna open up some huge cans of ethical, philosophical and practical worms. But what we have just now is fake intelligence, it mimics intelligence but it’s not actually intelligent. That’s why it can’t draw fingers.”
Anesti Danelis: Artificially Intelligent, Underbelly Bristo Square, until 25 August; 110 Percent Normal, Assembly George Square Studios, until 26 August; Transhumanist, Assembly @ Dance Base, until 25 August; You & It: The Musical, Assembly Checkpoint, until 25 August; Instructions, Summerhall, until 26 August. Artificial Intelligence Improvisation and A.L.Ex and the ImpRobots!, Gilded Balloon Patter House, until 18 August; Dante and the Robot, Zoo Playground, until 25 August; The World’s Cleverest Idiot, Underbelly Bristo Square, until 26 August
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