Can a robot – an artificial intelligence – learn to create art? Olivia Haller addresses this vividly topical question in her dystopian one-act play Loneliness Was a Pandemic. But the play, a world premiere at Theaterlab, is no intellectual exercise. It is, among other things, an assertion of humanity in the face of an AI dystopia.
Loneliness
A robot collective has vanquished its human creators and murdered millions if not billions of people. The number of human survivors isn’t made clear, but as far as our protagonist, known only as Human 1 (Emily Sullivan), knows, she is the only visual artist left alive.
The robots have chosen her to teach one of their number, and thus the collective, how to make art, “the one thing we cannot create.” Human 1 is confined to a small apartment, alone except for Robot 1 (Andrew Moorhead), the designated learning unit. Though he is “soulless,” the play asks us a tough question: Where is the line between human and artificial intelligence?
Robot 1 admits he doesn’t have emotions, or even really understand them. But there’s a little of Star Trek‘s Commander Data in him, in that he sincerely wishes to take something of the human into him, even if only to further the AI collective’s capabilities. To bond with Human 1, he puts on behaviors meant to soften her attitude. He blows on her hot coffee before handing it to her. He takes a stab at humor by quoting HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. He accepts her suggestion that he subject himself to an electric shock in an effort to understand “feeling.”
We learn of life before the robot takeover through Human 1’s anguished video calls with her partner Human 2 (a sizzling Cleopatra Boudreau), a writer with untempered bitterness and anger about the robots’ violent takeover. That’s in opposition to Human 1’s gradual softening toward her artificial student. Human 2’s anger and resentment feel thoroughly convincing – but is she even really there?
Indeed, what really exists outside Human 1’s apartment building? When the robot agrees to take her outside, is she really even outside?
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An Unwilling Avatar
Imaginatively directed by Alex Kopnick, the human and robot leads develop a relationship simultaneously touching and icky. It’s fueled by fury, but also by Human 1’s artistic convictions and need for meaningful contact with another, and by the robot’s own distinct motivations.
Both humor and pathos drive a quirky story that resonates strongly with present-day debates and conflicts about AI’s plundering of human creative expression. Sullivan’s intense, multi-dimensional performance makes Human 1 a rounded and believable avatar for what we have always believed ineffable about human creativity. Moorhead wittily embodies a representative of a murderously efficient collective that may nonetheless be capable of developing more “humanity.”
The set, lighting, sound, and videography all uplift Olivia Haller’s fine script and round out an insightful production. Loneliness Was a Pandemic is at Theaterlab through Nov. 24, 2024. Tickets and schedule are online.
The post Theater Review (NYC): ‘Loneliness Was a Pandemic’ by Olivia Haller – Can You Teach a Robot to Make Art? appeared first on Blogcritics.