Great post, as usual! Love your newsletter, Will. I just wanted to note that I've used AI to generate suggestions for us to play with. Like emotions, relationships, places. Things like that. It's quite good at including things I wouldn't have thought of. Another example: We were going to play the game where you interview an expert and I had AI suggest some funny areas of expertise. I've also used it to give me ideas for different warm-up games. Oh, and I had it make a pre-show "get out of your head" process for me, involving breathing and a mantra. I'm basically using it as an assistant to help make human improv even better.
One main problem with using AI agents as Improv coaches is that they don’t laugh when you are funny!
I used an AI agent as a practice partner/coach late at night on a plane to play with the idea of Vertical Take Off for opening lines. It was fun! As a supplement. Ps I instructed it and I quote “ Please don’t use flattering, cloying commentary”. That worked! But it didn’t laugh, so the fun was…Limited.
One interesting use of AI I've seen thus far was a Matrix-inspired improvised play by Flock Theater here in Amsterdam. The performers would improvise scenes in the story while another improviser offstage typed a summary into ChatGPT (or whatever they were using). Between scenes, the computer would narrate the next steps in the story in a foreboding voiceover and the players would improvise from that point. Sort of like an exquisite corpse, with improvisers and AI swapping story beats. Thanks in large part to the Matrix genre, it was a compelling bit of theater.
A useful concept I liked this recent piece on the economic impacts of AI is "the human touch": https://agglomerations.substack.com/p/economics-of-the-human - which makes the point that there is lots of stuff in the arts even before AI where machines can do it very well or better (e.g., the player piano) but we still prefer humans. And we can certainly make a machine that can reliably sink 3-points from a much greater distance than Steph Curry, but no one would pay to see that. There is a whole class of stuff where what we care about is human part of it, even things get to a point where they are very good. And I really like Neal Stephenson's theory that this is basically because art puts us in touch with the many microdecisions of the artist: https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/idea-having-is-not-art - to me the unique delight of improv is that you get to be there for those decisions *while they are happening*
"Improvisers would rather improvise with AI than write a sketch" is the improviser's "Men would rather do X than go to therapy." If you can treat the computer like a mirror, why can't you treat your brain like one?
“Cloying thirsty yes men” is a banger of a phrase.
Great post, as usual! Love your newsletter, Will. I just wanted to note that I've used AI to generate suggestions for us to play with. Like emotions, relationships, places. Things like that. It's quite good at including things I wouldn't have thought of. Another example: We were going to play the game where you interview an expert and I had AI suggest some funny areas of expertise. I've also used it to give me ideas for different warm-up games. Oh, and I had it make a pre-show "get out of your head" process for me, involving breathing and a mantra. I'm basically using it as an assistant to help make human improv even better.
centrists aren’t boring, they’re class traitors
One main problem with using AI agents as Improv coaches is that they don’t laugh when you are funny!
I used an AI agent as a practice partner/coach late at night on a plane to play with the idea of Vertical Take Off for opening lines. It was fun! As a supplement. Ps I instructed it and I quote “ Please don’t use flattering, cloying commentary”. That worked! But it didn’t laugh, so the fun was…Limited.
Will, thank you for your newsletter I enjoy it a lot.
If you’re interested in AI as a practice scene partner: https://improvninja.com, as not everyone has access to classes.
One interesting use of AI I've seen thus far was a Matrix-inspired improvised play by Flock Theater here in Amsterdam. The performers would improvise scenes in the story while another improviser offstage typed a summary into ChatGPT (or whatever they were using). Between scenes, the computer would narrate the next steps in the story in a foreboding voiceover and the players would improvise from that point. Sort of like an exquisite corpse, with improvisers and AI swapping story beats. Thanks in large part to the Matrix genre, it was a compelling bit of theater.
A useful concept I liked this recent piece on the economic impacts of AI is "the human touch": https://agglomerations.substack.com/p/economics-of-the-human - which makes the point that there is lots of stuff in the arts even before AI where machines can do it very well or better (e.g., the player piano) but we still prefer humans. And we can certainly make a machine that can reliably sink 3-points from a much greater distance than Steph Curry, but no one would pay to see that. There is a whole class of stuff where what we care about is human part of it, even things get to a point where they are very good. And I really like Neal Stephenson's theory that this is basically because art puts us in touch with the many microdecisions of the artist: https://nealstephenson.substack.com/p/idea-having-is-not-art - to me the unique delight of improv is that you get to be there for those decisions *while they are happening*
"Improvisers would rather improvise with AI than write a sketch" is the improviser's "Men would rather do X than go to therapy." If you can treat the computer like a mirror, why can't you treat your brain like one?
This is just fantastic. Great insights gleaned from this on the nature of AI in general.