Students will perform scenes exactly as composed by artificial intelligence, giving the audience a real-time understanding of the capacities of AI, while also challenging the artists’ expectations about the relationship between technology and art.

Associate Professor of Technical Theatre Dean Bellin, the show’s director, first became interested in the intersection of AI and art around a year ago. He was intrigued by the technology’s potential, and his students felt the same. The result is over an hour of vignettes, ranging in tone from humorous to somber, that tackle the presence of technology and AI in everyday life.

The production also comes amid intensifying discussions about the role of artificial intelligence in the workforce, as well as its impact on society. In recent years, AI has seen significant developments, with many arguing that the tool can be a useful crutch with proper oversight.

But some have pushed back, saying the technology can devalue labor and lead to the replacement of human employees to cut costs. And others fear that the development of AI could lead to catastrophic global disasters — a threat that sounds like it’s ripped from the pages of a science fiction novel, but is a concern shared by some experts.

To that end, it was a very intentional choice to present the scripts exactly as AI wrote them, Bellin said.

“If we wanted to fix this and have a little more human input on the creative side we could, but we chose not to do that because we want people to have an accurate assessment of where this tech is,” he said. “And the tech is way more advanced than people really realize.”

BSC freshman Justin Moldenhauer said the chance to perform a scene written by AI has allowed for additional fun in the acting process. By definition, the performance is experimental, and audiences enter the performance not knowing what to expect, he said.

“You don’t have to meet any standards — you can just kind of throw something scrappy and goofy together and jump out on the stage and perform it,” Moldenhauer said. “If people laugh, they laugh. If they don’t, they don’t. There’s nothing really we can do about it.”

BSC theatre arts major Sean Hughes has performed onstage for years, but preparing for this show was a unique experience. After working with AI scripts, he said, he now has a better understanding of how technology may shape his future in the industry.

This is the first time Hughes has performed scenes written by AI, and he said his expectations — slightly unnatural wording and some stiffness — often manifested in the scripts.

“With ChatGPT, sometimes when it’s writing stuff, it tends to repeat itself,” Hughes said, referring to a free AI chatbot that launched in November 2022 and was used to write scripts for the production. “And it’s not directly word for word, it’s just similar, but then, with a little twist to it.”

To some extent, the techniques of acting are the same, no matter who’s behind the script, Hughes said. But he’s also had to make artistic choices about the delivery of some of those more unnatural moments.

Bellin said the AI-produced scripts provided a challenge in that sense. With accuracy front of mind, and without previous references or a playwright attached to the script, he had to figure out a way to stay true to the output while also developing a quality production.

“We were actually locked into a fairly narrow window in which we could perform — these scripts that we were given were actually shockingly specific about certain things,” Bellin said. “And we were as truthful as we could possibly be to the scripts at hand.”

Bellin said he hopes the final product will prompt conversations about the future of AI in society — and hopefully, demystify the matter for audiences.

“I was afraid that this was going to be a remarkable failure,” Bellin said. “And I don’t think that that’s even remotely the case. I think this turned out way better than any of us could have expected.”

Performances of “The AI Plays” will run at the Sidney J. Lee Auditorium at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday, as well as at 2:30 p.m. for a Sunday matinee showing. The auditorium is at 1500 Edwards Ave. on campus. Tickets can be purchased online or at the door.