Taking care of business…

I decided that it would be a good idea to go through the prescribed structure and make sure that we have missed NOTHING (if it’s on the whiteboard… do it). Caitlyn has also done this but I thought that a second opinion wouldn’t hurt.

Setting: Yes – we incorporate the past (Ancient Greek God scene), the present (Peppa the helper robot) and the future (courtroom scene)

Performance Style: Epic Theatre (we use many epic theatre conventions during our performance e.g. Chelsea didactically addresses the audience, use of multimedia, breaking the tension) and Theatre of Cruelty (we also use many theatre of cruelty conventions e.g. assaulting the senses – sound, yelling at audience, visual poetry – we are yet to devise this … I suggest we create this in tomorrow’s lesson)

Prescribed Dramatic Elements: Sound (we the actors use the batons to create noise), Mood (we create a number of different moods within our play e.g. during our poem we create a tense and frightening mood),  Tension (e.g. when Georgia, Caitlyn and myself become the characters, emotional technology, we attack Chelsea verbally and continuously get more aggressive this creates a rise of tension on the stage) and Space (e.g. we create a use of levels during our poem).

Prescribed Stagecraft: Sound (we have electronic sound coming from our multimedia – songs and high pitched tones), Multimedia (as mentioned before, we have a presentation which will be displayed on a wall via a projector), Props (e.g. baton, masks, chairs), and Costumes (e.g. Chelsea has collected tops for us all to wear which we will transform to make them look like machine parts).

Plot:

  • The history of AI and early developments
    • Ancient Greek God – Hephastus
    • Alan Turing
    • Google Car
    • Peppa – the helper robot
    • Huan – the helper robot
  • Current uses of AI that are generally well known in the wider community
    • Google car
    • Tay AI
  • Current uses of AI existing on the fringe and/or cutting edge of this technology, mostly unknown in the wider community
    • Emotional technology
    • Peppa – the helper robot
    • Huan – the helper robot
  • Examples of AI use you consider immoral or unethical
    • fully autonomous machines (this is made clear in our visual poetry piece)
  • The challenge for lawmakers in relation to AI
    • courtroom scene – the prosecutor questions how we will be able to persecute this machine in a room that was designed to try humans
  • Positive potential uses for AI in the future
    • Huan
    • Peppa
    • Brai
  • Negative potential uses for AI in the future
    • Autonomous machines taking over
  • Decisions humankind must make about AI
    • In our opening scene we ask Georgia, who is playing the character of Scientist, a series of questions about the future of AI.

Brainstorm of Ensemble Structure

Setting:

Past:

  • Aborigines and Captain Cook – historification – invasion of the Englishmen vs. invasion of the AI robots.
  • Cavemen and Fire – historification – creation of fire/heat/light/warmth vs. creation of first AI humanoid robot.
    • Fire can be beautiful at first but let it take over and you lose control/power.
    • Robots can be beautiful at first but let them take over and you lose control.

Present:

  • Focus on the unknown
    • we don’t know to the extent what we have created so far
    • the extent to which we have doomed ourselves or saved ourselves

* EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: Chaos – running around the theatre space introducing so many new types of AI robots that no-one knows where to look or who to listen to – next episode would be a contrast and be something like a parable.

Future:

  • Lost control – AI robots have taken over (WALL-E – humans do nothing, all jobs are done by AI Robots)
  • There are no humans anymore

*EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: Speak to audience as though they are human rebels who have managed to flee the AI robots as they exterminate the human population. Speak to the audience telling them how they are killing the Earth and are too simple-minded and basic to actually survive on this Earth, hence why they are being exterminated.

Performance Style:

Non-Naturalism:

  • Transformation of character
  • Transformation of place
  • Transformation of object
  • Transformation of time (disjointed time sequences)
  • Stillness and silence
  • Dramatic irony
  • Exaggerated movement
  • Song
  • Caricature
  • Heightened use of language
  • Dramatic metaphor
  • Satire/comedy
  • Pathos
  • Freeze frame
  • Flashback
  • Fatal flaw
  • Lyrical
  • Live sound effects

(The Drama Teacher)

Epic Theatre:

  • Narration
  • Direct address
  • Placards and signs
  • Projection
  • Spoiling dramatic tension in advance
  • Disjointed time sequences
  • Historification
  • Fragmentary costumes
  • Fragmentary props
  • Song
  • Demonstration of role
  • Multiple roles (actors)
  • Costume changes in full view of the audience
  • Lighting in full view of the audience
  • Open white lighting
  • Alienation technique “verfremdungseffekt”

(The Drama Teacher)

Theatre of Cruelty:

  • Visual poetry
  • Assaulting the senses
  • Creating a dream world
  • Involving the audience
  • Skill of the actor
  • Deliberate cruelty
  • Improvising the play

(Living Drama Textbook)

Prescribed Dramatic Elements:

Sound:

  • Epic Theatre:
    • actor sings to portray message
      • ‘Every Breath You Take’ – The Police
        • the idea that humans will no longer be free, AI is watching their every move, no FREEDOM.
      • ‘Stressed Out’ – Twenty One Pilots
        • “wish we could turn back time, to the good old days, when the man would sing us to sleep but now we’re stressed out” sung extremely slowly and out of tune
          • Human race is now stressed out because AI robots are now watching their every move, they no longer have control over what they have created.
  • Theatre of Cruelty:
    • assaulting the senses (screams)
      • Scream once at the audience, then again and on the third time take the breath to scream but don’t scream – crueeeeelll

Mood:

Mood is the feeling or tone of performance. Created through a combination of several dramatic and stagecraft elements working in harmony with each other. Mood can be created via sound/lighting/movement/setting/rhythm/conflict. (The Drama Teacher)

Mood is the overall feeling or emotion a performance can evoke. 

  • despair
  • uneasy
  • uncertainty
  • devestation
  • sadness
  • anger
  • holy moly
  • rage
  • fear
  • lost
  • power

Tension:

Suspense in the performance – as the audience anticipate certain outcomes in the plot, tension builds. Tension often leads to a climactic moment in which the tension is released. Tension is closely linked with timing. (The Drama Teacher)

  • silence
  • helplessness
  • the unknown
  • uncertainty
  • AI hold the power – tension between AI and the human race

Space:

Effective use of available space in a performance. Different levels of space utilised by performer – sitting, standing, bending over. (The Drama Teacher)

Movement becomes an important factor. 

  • Levels
    • ramps
    • blocks
    • tables
    • beanbags (large)
    • effective use of levels – high/med/low

CHALLENGE: NO ACTOR CAN BE THE SAME HEIGHT AT ANY TIME (sit, stand, lie, kneel) IN PERFORMANCE.

Prescribed Stagecraft:

  • Sound: using tech
    • track I made calming music with low buzzing in background which gradually gets more high pitched until stage is enveloped in high pitched tone – THEATRE OF CRUELTY – assault the senses
    • Interstellar soundtrack is monumental, heaps of dramatic songs to add to very tense atmospheres.
  • Multimedia: focus on projection
    • Images – Chelsea’s idea of AI having the ability to access everyone’s social media accounts and look at their personal info – project on screen
    • Video – destruction of human race
  • Props:
    • minimal – each actor has the exact same prop
      • e.g. torch, calculator (*EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: beginning or ending scene is the four actors at different places in the theatre space, AI have successfully taken over Earth and actors are calculating how much longer the human race have left to live), sunglasses, remote (slowly begins to control actors).
  • Costume:
    • silver cloaks with face painted silver
    • blue overalls – the worker in Metropolis
    • slick back hair, robot like suits – professional

Prescribed NonNaturalistic Conventions:

  • Transformation of Character:
    • scientists – AI robot – human race
  • Transformation of Time:
    • must include past, present and future (if it’s on the whiteboard, do it, if not, don’t)
  • Transformation of Place:
    • Countries = China, Japan, India, USA, AUS.
      • Places where AI has really taken off vs. places such as developing countries to show what healthy changes could be made where. OR show the devastating effects of how a vulnerable place could be taken control of by more wealthy and powerful countries through the use of AI

*EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: USA is in a meeting talking about their assets and say “Oh look at Africa, starving children, employment issues, AIDS, Ebola… lets send in our stealth AI robot, Geoff, to befriend the authorities and become President of Africa then boom, we’re in.

  • Transformation of Object:
    • As mentioned above ^^^
    • Need to begin using very early on in rehearsals otherwise will look disjointed and untidy.

Background:

  • Human behaviour:
    • Human behaviour = refers to full range of physical and emotional behaviours that humans engage in – biologically, socially, intellectually – and are influenced by culture, attitudes, emotions, values, ethics, rapport, persuasion, coercion and genetics.
    • There is five stages of a human beings life:
      • 1. prenatal
      • 2. infancy
      • 3. childhood
      • 4. adolescence
      • 5. adulthood
    • Is it the same for a AI robot?
  • AI has existed for some decades: First existence of AI
    • 1956 conference at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire – the term “artificial intelligence” was coined.
  • Perform tasks normally undertaken by humans: cooking/cleaning/war/playing games (AlphaGo)
  • Autonomously: having the freedom to govern itself or let it control its own affairs

Useful articles found while researching the above:

http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21650543-powerful-computers-will-reshape-humanitys-future-how-ensure-promise-outweighs

http://www.cnet.com/au/news/bill-gates-is-worried-about-artificial-intelligence-too/

http://www.techworld.com/news/operating-systems/stephen-hawking-warns-computers-will-overtake-humans-within-100-years-3611397/

 

(Continued on 13/4/16)

A number of pressing questions now exist:

  • Can computer systems now sufficiently mimic the human brain in order to think intelligently?
    • Mimic = imitate
    • Intelligently = smart, with knowledge
    • Can a machine act intelligently?
      • Turing Test – Alan Turing suggests that “if a machine can answer any question put to it, using the same words that an ordinary person would, then we may call it intelligent.”
        • in my opinion this sounds very anthropomorphic (personification)
    • If our ultimate goal is to have machines that are more intelligent than humans, why make them look like humans?
      • aeronautical engineers say their field does not make machines that fly exactly like pigeons so that they can fool other pigeons.
    • Hubert Dreyfus: the brain can be simulated
      • the nervous system obeys the laws of physics and chemistry, so we should be able to recreate this in a machine – 1943
    • Computer systems will be able to sufficiently mimic the human brain if we give them the power to, or if they become self aware.
  • Are there examples of artificially intelligent behaviour superior to that of humans?
    • AlphaGo – beat the world champion – Lee Sedol
    • Smart machines now: check us out at stores, take our blood pressure, answer our phones, massage our backs, give us directions, rock our babies, read our books, turn our lights on, guard our homes, drive our cars, teach our children.
    • Google: maps, gmail, car, browser, contacts, calendars
      • what if  google became self aware?
        • it can already make predictions, is it already self aware?
        • autocorrect, knows what we want to say next, but also changes what we meant to say ‘… no autocorrect I didn’t mean holy shut…’
    • What if AI is just sitting silently in the background pretending to be our companion and everyday assistant but is just waiting for the chance to take control.
    • Robots taking our jobs

*EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: Now the Australian has to stop worrying about the refugees taking our jobs, start worrying about the robots taking all our jobs! – Black Comedy

  • Will lawmakers need to shape the current and future role of artificial intelligence?
    • Lawmakers = judges, juries, politicians
    • What if lawmakers become artificial intelligence … our courts are ruled by intelligent machines.
      • In the future lawmakers/governments/authoritative figures all become AI
      • A world governed by intelligent machines will have surpassed human human control, machines that are self aware and all-powerful.
    • Lawmakers must put a control (leash) on those creating AI’s – if the AI’s become too powerful and controlling, the human race will lose control.
    • How far are we willing to go to advance our world?
      • if we allow AI to become our companions we are personifying them – making them seem human to makes ourselves believe that they are a natural part of life.
      • are we willing to sacrifice our freedom to become technologically advanced?
      • what will happen if AI exceeds our control?
        • will it aid us?
        • or will it be detrimental to the human race?
    • Lawmakers current = humans
    • Lawmakers future = AI machines
  • Will AI be used purely for worthy purposes?
    • Purely = not entirely for worthy purposes
    • Worthy = medicinal breakthroughs/aiding the elderly
    • Could be used for medicinal purposes – make machines that their sole purpose is to find a cure for cancer – or any other threatening disease
      • they could start making diseases lethal to the human race – their way to wipe us out.
    • Could be used as a police force
      • to aid the public
      • head towards a 0% crime rate world wide
      • the power could get to the machines head – begin to start enforcing the law in inappropriate places, begin to take control (I think we have a recurring theme here).
    • In short answer, no. AI will not be purely used for worthy purposes – rather, that it will have a mix of both. There will be those who want to contribute to humanity and make the world a better place, but there will be those who aim to contradict society and bring humankind to an end. Extremists – 12 Monkeys – wipe out the human race, if AI exceeds human control.
  • Will a dark side of artificial intelligence inevitable exist, leading to immoral, unethical, dangerous and even illegal uses of technology?
    • Dark side
      • if we give AI machines the power to think autonomously.
        • You give them the power to predict the Earth’s future, meaning they will analyse the damage that humans are doing to the Earth and find a solution as to how to save the Earth. They will begin to understand that unless we change our ways dramatically in which we go about living on the Earth, humans will need to be eradicated in order for the Earth to live on.
          • If the Earth dies, humans die with it.
          • If humans die, the Earth lives on.
    • Immoral, unethical, dangerous and illegal uses of tech
      • what is an illegal use of tech?
        • one that exhibits negative and destructive behaviour
        • illegal downloading
        • extremism – dangerous
      • to an AI machine their decisions may seem ethical, moral and beneficial to the Earth’s future.
      • An AI may use tech illegally to gain knowledge, undermine their creators, search for ways to improve the human race. They could infiltrate our tech to steal information and hijack our tech. – G-Force
        •  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7Gs1dB_bFw
      • Control our devices – control the way we think by controlling what we can read, view and access.
  • Will humans be able to control all decisions made by artificially intelligent machines?
    • In the beginning humans will have full control over AI, as the creators they will be led into a false belief that they are in full control of their creations’ decisions – but as the AI becomes self aware they will be able to think autonomously and take control over themselves.
    • As the AI becomes more aware of itself, its abilities and its position in the world (socially) it will begin to understand to the extent what it can do make decisions for itself.
    • In short, no. If you want to, and create an artificially intelligent machine you are allowing it to become more and more intelligent as time goes on.
    • AI could look like a glob for all we know, we just make them look like super-humans so it can fool other humans.
    • It depends on the freedom you give the machines in the beginning, give them too much and they could abuse it, but if you give them none, we will never learn just what AI is capable of – could allow some freedom in a controlled environment.

Plot:

  • The history of AI and early developments
    • Turing Test
    • Timeline:
      • Ancient history
        • Greek Myths of Hephaestus – a blacksmith who manufactured mechanical servants
        • Bronze-man Talos – intelligent robots
      • 4th Century B.C
        • Aristotle invented syllogistic logic – first formal deductive reasoning system
      • 13th Century
        • Talking heads were invented (magic)
      • 15th/16th Century
        • Clocks – first modern measuring machines
      • 16th Century
        • DaVinci’s Walking Lion
      • 18th Century
        • Von Kempelen’s chess turk was created
      • 20th Century
      • 1936-38
        • Alan Turing – Turing Test
      • 1939
        • Electro – mechanical man, Sparko – mechanical dog
          • Both presented at the World’s Fair in New York
      • 1950
        • Isaac Asimov’s Laws of Robotics (as quoted in I,Robot)
          • 1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
          • 2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
          • 3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not interfere with First or Second law.
            • could be the opening dialogue to our performance
      • 1956
        • John McCarthy coined the term “artificial intelligence” at the  Dartmouth Conference.
      • 1957
        • GPS – General Problem Solver – a machine that can simulate human thinking.
      • 1962
        • First industrial robot company – Unimation
      • 1966
        • J. Alan Robinson invented Eliza – mechanical psychotherapist – carries on any conversation in English.
      • 1967
        • Dendral Program – first successful knowledge based program for scientific reasoning.
      • 1979
        • Jack Myers and Harry Pople UOP – INTERNIST – knowledge based medical diagnostic program
        • Stanford Cart – autonomous vehicle – navigates rooms  filled with chairs.
      • 1980
        • AAAI – American Association of Artificial Intelligence
      • 1989
        • Dean Pomerleau – ALVINN – autonomous land vehicle – drove a car coast to coast (USA, 2850 miles)
      • 1990’s
        • NASA – pathfinder – autonomous robotics system
        • Web Crawlers – extraction programs on the World Wide Web.
      • 2000’s

*EPISODE/SCENE IDEAS:

– Episode showing the innocence that was first shown towards AI compared to the reality of AI in the future – either destruction or saviour of human race.

– Cavemen first creating fire vs. humans first creating AI after the humans have created AI turn into gorilla, cave-like people around the AI to symbolise how basic humans are in relation to the universe.

  • Current uses of AI that are generally well known in the wider community.
    • game playing – chess, AlphaGo
    • speech recognition – SIRI
    • finance – fraud prevention, organise operations, invest in stocks, manage properties
      • In 2001 (August), AI robots beat humans in a simulated financial trading comp.
    • hospitals and medicine – interpretation medical imaging, heart sound analysis
    • heavy industry – repetitive/dangerous work for humans
      • slowly taking all our jobs.
    • AIBO – autonomous dog
    • YSEOP – able to write financial reports/executive summaries/marketing documents at a speed of thousands of pages per second in multiple languages.
    • iRobot ROOMBA – vacuum cleaner
    • Netflix/LinkedIn/Facebook – suggest movies to watch, friends you may know through machine learning.
    • Google Self-Driving Car – tree vs. pedestrian can learn the difference
  • Current uses of AI existing on the fringe and/or cutting edge of this technology, mostly unknown in the wider community.
  • Examples of AI use you consider immoral or unethical
    • Using AI to hack into and steal information from private computers
    • Spy machines – war crime
    • War – AI deciding how/when/where to attack the enemy
    • Use of intelligent robots who will (are designed) to complete jobs that humans are capable of doing.
      • e.g. teaching/doctors/lawyers and bin collectors
      • Unemployment rate is bad already, we don’t need robots to come in and take more of the jobs that could go to struggling families who want to break the poverty cycle.
    • Police AI – humanoid robots that govern the law would be outrageous and unethical. Non-sentient they do not feel emotions the same way that humans do.
  • The challenge for lawmakers in relation to AI
    • to say “yes” to the future and allow AI to become a part of our everyday life
    • to say “no” realising the dangers that could come from the black market and a rising AI force that cannot be controlled – scientists/inventors who want to explore the world of AI more but can’t due to restriction.
    • In law – persuasive storytelling is a means of communication – AI can aid in the legal process as it analyses data and fact rather than the way someone has worded their case.
      • yet the challenge is, as they cannot identify with emotions will they be too harsh?
    • How far are lawmakers willing to allow AI’s control over such data?
    • Can lawmakers put a ban on how much an AI can learn?
    • What happens if an AI machine commits theft (Cash’s example – AI taking money from people’s bank accounts little bit at a time).
    • If AI becomes a thinking humanoid robot with feelings and emotions, then would the laws need to be altered encompassing the roles of robots in our society. Would they be responsible for their actions? Will they have the same rights as humans?

*EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: In a court of law, judge is looking at a case where the persecutor is a grandmother, businessman, bin collector e.t.c. and the offender is an AI machine that hack the person’s account and stole money. Sassy machine vs. person. Will it get to this point? Is it even possible to sue an AI machine along the grounds that it can think autonomously and make its own decisions.

  • Positive potential uses for AI in the future.
    • this happened randomly while I was researching topic … reading an article and an ad pops up showing the shoes that you’ve been searching for online.
    • Healthcare – more accurate results, better diagnostics, clever instructions
    • Education – ability to teach every student differently depending on how they learn.
      • Chelsea requires a scribe in exams and SACs because the school, education system hasn’t figured out a better more modern option. AI could be used to aid kids like Chelsea in exam conditions.
    • Economy – scan data and documents and stats thousands in seconds, produce the best possible answer for how to try and fix economy even comp up with a solution. This type of AI could be put in place in developing countries and they could improve their economy and in turn their nation overall.
    • Manufacturing companies – increased production and lower costs. Decreased errors and increased efficiency.
    • AMEX – Authorisation Assistant – fraud detector
    • Emergency services – humans could be taken out of jobs that put them in the face of danger e.g. firefighters (not emergency services but into nuclear power plants)
    • Assisting the elderly – able to help old people do things that they are no longer able to do or required assistance doing.
  • Negative potential uses for AI in the future
    • As AI has begun to produce more accurate results than humans (more often than not) they could one day completely take all of our humanly capable jobs.
    • Humans could become lazy – “if the computer can do it better, why should I waste my time doing it?”
    • Increased automation in the defence force – will a human be with an AI machine every step of the way when it is making on-the-go decisions? If not huge, monumental, historical errors could take place.
    • AI will change the human’s perception of ‘work’
      • a new industrial revolution

*EPISODE/SCENE IDEA: Historification – Hitler/Germany/World looking back, “maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t have killed all the jews… just a thought fellas…” Scientists/World looking back “maybe, just maybe, we shouldn’t have invented AI… just a thought fellas…”

  • Decisions humankind must make about AI
    • How far are we willing to allow AI to control our lives?
    • Should AI have boundaries in terms of its machine learning?
    • Are we willing to allow AI to become an integral part of our lives, or are we willing to let it sit and watch?
    • Do we change our laws and human rights to include AI robots is they have become sentient?
    • Are we willing to take a risk and let AI have full control over the future of the human race?
    • What do we need to do if AI goes beyond our understanding and control?
      • Will we have a backup plan?
    • Do we want to view AI as an machine, assistant or companion?
    • How dependent are we willing to become on our AI machines?
    • When is the right time to decide that AI is destructing our society?
    • Would you put your life into the hands of a machine?
    • Do we trust AI with our lives?

Perhaps people will look back on our lives and think about how unnecessarily difficult our lives were…