Will Artificial Intelligence Help or Hurt Theatre?

Greg Ehrhardt, OnStage Blog Editorial Staff

This week, ChatGPT was in the news as the latest unveiling of the power of artificial intelligence in generating ideas for humans. While you can ask questions to ChatGPT like you can with Alexas, it cannot hold actual conversations with people, as the AI makes it clear that it doesn’t have feelings or emotions, but it can generate ideas for people if you ask it things like “Come Up With A New Broadway Play for me!”

Well, that’s what I ended up doing! I asked ChatGPT for a new idea for a Broadway play, and this was its answer, repeated verbatim:

“The play, titled "Rise Up," tells the tale of a young woman named Ava who, against all odds, fights to follow her dreams and make a name for herself in the cutthroat world of theater. Along the way, she encounters a host of colorful characters, including a wise old stagehand, a charming leading man, and a jealous rival.

Through hard work and determination, Ava eventually rises to the top, winning the hearts of audiences and critics alike. In the end, she learns that no matter how difficult the journey may be, with passion and perseverance, anything is possible.”

Well, that sure sounds like many plays I’ve seen before!

While it is impressive that AI was able to come up with that concept within seconds, in all, its just another retread idea that many theatre producers have tried in various forms through the last 70 years.

But that’s not really the point of this newsletter. Everyone, with some merit, is worrying that AI will take over the world and render millions of jobs worthless. Many have said that the arts will be immune from this trend, because AI can never be as creative as humans in a sensible fashion.

To this, I say, be careful, because, we’re seeing that Broadway and Hollywood doesn’t really care about creativity as much as marketability, and I’m a lot more confident in AI’s ability to conjure up marketable ideas than I am creative ideas.

Is this a reason for theatre people to fear AI? Not necessarily; actually, I think it could help. AI could establish a baseline for humans to benchmark their writing efforts against.

Let’s say they come up with an original idea for a musical, say, set in Kansas in the 1960s. Here’s what ChatGPT told me was its idea for an original musical set in 1960s Kansas:

“One idea for a Broadway musical set in Kansas in the 1960s could be a coming-of-age story about a group of teenagers growing up in a small town during the turbulent era of the Civil Rights movement. The musical could explore the challenges and triumphs of the young characters as they navigate issues of racism, discrimination, and social change while pursuing their dreams of stardom. The show could feature a mix of original songs and classic hits from the 1960s, as well as dance numbers and compelling drama. The setting of Kansas in the 1960s would provide a unique and compelling backdrop for the story, allowing the audience to experience a slice of American history through the eyes of the characters.”

Not a bad concept actually! But its clear ChatGPT is drawing upon history to come up with a musical that feels similar to other plays and musicals that have actually been done.

So in a way, this could help establish a baseline for the aspiring human playwright: Be more creative and challenging than THAT concept!

For the younger or less experienced playwright, AI could genuinely help with new ideas if you’re stuck with writer’s block. AI can be a helpful tool, an appetizer if you will.

Just don’t let it be the main course. Challenge yourself to establish new history, new conventions, new tropes, because that’s how the arts will ultimately progress and push culture forward.

I asked ChatGPT for one more original Broadway musical idea: here was its response:

Another idea for a Broadway musical could be a retelling of the classic story "Cinderella." In this version, Cinderella is a talented young singer who dreams of performing on Broadway. When her cruel stepmother and stepsisters prevent her from pursuing her dreams, Cinderella is aided by her fairy godmother and a group of eccentric theater performers who help her audition for a role in a big Broadway show. With their help, Cinderella proves that she has what it takes to be a star and finds her happily ever after on the stage.

While Scott Rudin might be licking his chops at such a “novel” idea, humans can do better. Humans MUST do better.

And that' may be what AI’s use is ultimately to the arts.

It doesn’t create the arts. It pushes artists to be the best they can be. It creates competition.

Don’t just create some version of the play we’ve seen hundreds of times before, we can just have an AI bot write that.

Write something new, creative, bold, and fresh.

If AI pushes artists to do that, it may not be such a scary threat to the arts after all.