Can artificial intelligence algorithms alone write a play?

The world premiere of an AI play will debut this month.

Writing a play often takes months, maybe years of work. After this, a show is often developed and workshopped until it is performed in front of an audience. But, what if writing a play was made easier? The world premiere of the first play, titled AI: When a robot writes a play, written entirely by artificial intelligence (AI) will premiere on 26 February.

Created by Czech Centre London in partnership with Prague's Švanda Theatre, their upcoming AI play is written entirely by a robot. It's been created by a team of computer scientists, drama experts and a computational linguist to ensure the play makes sense.

Speaking about the project, director of Czech Centre London Přemysl Pela said: "As AI algorithms are already able to beat the best world chess players, compose classical music undiscernible from Mozart and Beethoven, we now witness another groundbreaking leap as the AI enters in completely uncharted territory of play writing."

AI: When a robot writes a play has been generating script dialogues since May 2020 about a robot facing everyday joy and suffering. The play celebrates the 100th anniversary of Czech playwright Karel Čapek's play R.U.R, where the word "robot" was first used.

Having worked on the production, drama expert David Košťák spoke of whether computers could replace humans. He said: "It doesn't look like it yet, but it could help authors in the near future."

AI: When a robot writes a play is available to watch on 26 February. Find out more information here. 

^{Photo credit: AI Artwork (Photo courtesy of Svanda Theatre)}