A World of Computer Errors and Digital Indifference
At the 2025 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, artificial intelligence takes center stage with performances that explore the uneasy relationship between humans and machines. From a tech-infused take on Hamlet to an interactive AI chatbot guiding audiences through apocalyptic futures, the shows highlight how AI challenges our sense of reality and emotional connection.
Dead Air: A Digital Hamlet
In Dead Air, Alfie, played by Alfrun Rose, is a modern-day Hamlet grappling with grief and family tensions. Her deceased father lives on as an AI simulation through a subscription service called AiR. This digital ghost offers a near-real presence, but Alfie’s struggle isn’t just with the AI or her mother’s new partner; it’s with unresolved trauma, including her miscarriages. The AI’s lifelike replication only deepens her paralysis, revealing that no digital facsimile can replace real human loss or healing.
Stampin’ in the Graveyard: Glitches and End Times
Elisabeth Gunawan embodies an AI chatbot named Rose in Stampin’ in the Graveyard. Rose is designed to ease humanity’s transition toward a catastrophic future, but she’s riddled with glitches and network errors. Audience members steer the unfolding story, which ranges from couples consulting marriage advice vending machines to narratives of forced separations and closed airports. The show’s steampunk synth-accordion and fractured digital interface create a haunting atmosphere of technological failure and emotional detachment.
AI: The Waiting Room – A Personalized Experience
New York’s Angry Fish Theater and Ally Artists Group push AI’s boundaries with AI: The Waiting Room – An Audiovisual Journey. Before the show, each audience member completes a questionnaire about personal ambitions and relationships. The AI then crafts a unique narrative delivered through headphones, blending individual stories into a larger tale of societal collapse and technological renewal.
This immersive experience mixes monochrome animation with audience participation, though some interactive prompts feel forced. Still, the bespoke storytelling offers a rare glimpse into how AI can create personalized art, even if it struggles to fully capture human spontaneity.
What Creatives Can Take Away
- Human emotion remains irreplaceable. Even the most advanced AI can’t replicate the depth of grief or connection that real human experiences hold.
- Glitches and imperfections matter. The digital errors in these performances highlight the coldness and unpredictability of AI, emphasizing the value of authentic human interactions.
- Personalization is powerful but imperfect. AI-generated stories can surprise and engage, but they might also feel artificial or forced without genuine human nuance.
For creatives exploring AI’s potential, these shows offer cautionary yet inspiring perspectives. They remind us that while AI can assist and augment creative processes, it can’t replace the messy, emotional complexity that defines human storytelling.
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Festival Details
- Dead Air – Pleasance Courtyard until 24 August
- Stampin’ in the Graveyard – Summerhall until 25 August
- AI: The Waiting Room – An Audiovisual Journey – Studio at C Arts until 16 August
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