Documentary:
“Can AI-generated improvised comedy be funny?”, by Spencer Kelly, BBC News, 5 November 2022.
“Human or Machine: A Behind the Scenes Look at AI and Improv with Improbotics“, by Holly Bartolo for the Phoenix Remix, 25 June 2021.
Master’s thesis:
Master’s thesis in Social and Cultural Anthropology, published in: Ellen Smith (2022) “A posthuman performance: enacting the potentiality of artificial intelligence through relationality on stage“, Faculty of Social Sciences, KU Leuven.
Press coverage:
“Can AI help humans be funnier? Comedians, improvisers and researchers test what’s possible” by Tom Williams for ACS Information Age, 5 October 2024.
Jillian Ellis and A.L.Ex featured in “Edinburgh Unlocked” on BBC Scotland, 16 August 2024.
Piotr Mirowski was interviewed by Louise Cannon for Bookmarks and Stages, 10 August 2024.
“Rise of the robots: from comedy to dance, the Edinburgh Fringe shows taking on artificial intelligence“, by David Pollock for The Scotsman, 31 July 2024.
“Improbotics – Comedy AI: Artificial intelligence improv delights at Brighton Fringe” by Nicola Benge for Brighton & Hove News, 30 May 2024.
Piotr Mirowski was interviewed by Katie Collins in “AI Took the Stage at the World’s Largest Arts Festival. Here’s What Happened” for CNET, 2 September 2023.
Piotr Mirowski and the Improbotics troupe featured in Gillian Tett’s essay “Can AI Crack Comedy?” for The Financial Times, 26 August 2023.
Piotr Mirowski and Boyd Branch were interviewed by Elizabeth Greenberg in “Yes-anding AI: Artificial Intelligence Stars at the Edinburgh Fringe” for DIGIT, 16 August 2023.
Piotr Mirowski, Sarah Davies and Boyd Branch interviewed for Al Jazeera, 9 August 2023.
Piotr Mirowski and Boyd Branch interviewed in “Is this the future of comedy? The AI acts taking to the stage at the Edinburgh Fringe” for Sky News, 8 August 2023.
Piotr Mirowski and Sarah Davies interviewed by Jay Richardson in “AI is taking over Fringe comedy; can robots be funnier than humans?” for The Scotsman, 31 July 2023.
Improbotics recommended as a show in “A bot walks into a bar … Edinburgh fringe performers use AI to write jokes” in The Observer / The Guardian, 30 July 2023.
Improbotics features alongside New York-based ComedyBytes in “A byte of humor: US and UK comedy groups host AI-infused shows” in Daily AI, 7 July 2023.
Piotr Mirowski interviewed by Gary Baum in “Why AI Isn’t Funny – At Least Not Yet” for Hollywood Reporter, 1 June 2023.
Piotr Mirowski interviewed by Mike O’Sullivan in “Artificial Intelligence Can Create, But Lacks Creativity, Say Critics” on Voice of America, 26 April 2023.
Piotr Mirowski and Jenny Elfving interviewed by Tina Daheley in “What the AI revolution means for arts” on BBC World Service – The Cultural Frontline, 4 March 2023.
Improbotics covered as a segment of “Who’s Buying the Metaverse?” (19:30 mark) on BBC Click, 5 November 2022.
“Piotr Mirowski: Working with a robot allows us to reach the absurd” (in Bulgarian), BGNES, 27 October 2022.
Interview in Programata (in Bulgarian), 27 October 2022.
“Leerlingen spelen improvisatietheater met een robot“, ATV, 3 May 2022.
“Artificial Intelligence Can Now Craft Original Jokes—And That’s No Laughing Matter“, by Corinne Purtill for Time Magazine, 4 January 2022.
“Stand-up comedy ‘written by bots’ is still one big joke“, by Tom Williams for ABC News, 3 August 2021.
“De improviserende robot” [The improvising robot], by Kim Verhaeghe for EOS Wetenschap, 20 February 2020.
“Improvisatietheater met robots gaat in première” [Improv theater with robots premieres], by Els Bellens for DataNews Knack, 20 February 2020.
“Robot speelt improvisatietheater” [Robot performs improv theater], by Stijn Van de Sande for Gazet Van Antwerpen (18 February 2020), Het Nieuwsblad (19 February 2020), De Standaard (19 February 2020).
“Artificial Intelligence takes over Edmonton improv show at Citadel“, by Emily Mertz for Global News Canada, 17 January 2019.
“A Robot Walks Into a Bar. But Can It Do Improv Comedy?“, by Alex Marshall for The New York Times, 8 August 2018.
“So a Computer Walks Into a Bar“, by James Geary for the Wall Street Journal, 21 September 2018.
“Improbotics: Bringing Machine Intelligence Into Improvised Theatre“, by Ingrid Fadelli for Tech Xplore, 20 September 2018.
“AI tries bad improv to trick people into thinking it is human“, by Frank Swain for The New Scientist, 14 September 2018.
“Hello World Canada: The Rise of AI“, by Ashlee Vance for Bloomberg, shown on 23 May 2018.
“Robot’s terrible jokes are a new test of machine intelligence“, by Douglas Heaven for The New Scientist, 7 December 2017.
“A.L.Ex the chatbot is learning to be human by doing improv comedy“, by Danny Paez for Inverse, 1 December 2017.
“Will A Robot Steal My Job?“, by Anne-Marie Tomchak and Animo TV, shown on 13 November 2017 on RTE One.
Reviews:
“A troop of comedians who are pushing the boundaries of what improv can be“, according to Peter Allinson from Brighton and Hove News, “by introducing technology into the mix […] it is the technology that makes this show different. Scenes are constructed with augmented reality glasses where AI generated scripts are all they are allowed to use, the audience use their phones to select the next twist in the story and random photos are generated causing them to switch tack, the actors addressing each challenge presented. We see them dealing with AI augmented cameras, allowing an audience member to see their potential future, and telling wild stories with impossible outcomes. […] Overall, the humans appear to be the winners. AI might be able to copy, create and generate, but it is the actors who can subvert and respond in ways it could never expect.”
“The show was interesting and had a lot of funny moments throughout“, according to Steve for One4Review. “The Improv actors do very well to produce a scene to the amusement of the audience. […] AI then takes us to another level; an audience member volunteers and gives some information about their life before their facial image is scanned and used to transform the four improv actors into four completely different looking people. The improv actors then must produce a sketch for their new character using their own voices, this is the funniest part of the show. Another three words are chosen, and the show finale is one of the improv actors being put on the spot to cleverly compile a storyline using the selected three words.”
“We loved this and would happily revisit this show many times more” according to Nicola Benge for Brighton and Hove News. “made us howl with laughter from start to finish […] Advanced as this might sound, it made for some delightfully bizarre and unexpectedly comic exchanges and scenarios through a combination of audience participation, AI intervention and quick-witted performers. […] This talented bunch, many with both scientific, theatrical and improvisation experience created a witty, offbeat and light-hearted dynamic which encouraged engagement with the show. […] At times making no sense at all, and sometimes sounding incredibly profound in a Samuel Beckett way. […] We loved this and would happily revisit this show many times more, given that each time is completely unique!”
“A must-see” according to reviewer Neave Glennon for Brighton on the Inside. “Though it sounds risky, Improbotics manage to pull it off seamlessly. […] Piotr’s venture into improv with robots aims not to replace human creativity, but to inspire it. […] Every time A.L.E.x would miss the mark, the crowd would erupt with laughter […] demonstrated how these concerning technological advancements could actually be used in a positive and effective way […] this moment that truly highlights the irreplaceability of the human spirit […] All in all, the show illustrates that while AI can inspire and enhance, it cannot replace the nuanced artistry of humans. Piotr and his team have crafted an extraordinary feat of software engineering and live performance, evolving what we consider theatre. The show poses some philosophical questions about AI’s role in society, making it a must-see for anyone anxious about what kind of future it may bring.”
5 star ***** review by Theatre And Tonic: “Artificial Intelligence Improvisation is not only very funny, but thought provoking. […] A fantastic look at how AI can be used in an artistic space while also showing us that it isn’t quite as advanced as we all feared […] Thoroughly enjoyed the show, it was interesting to see just how well the AI prompts were able to keep up with each of the ongoing scenes, or not as was sometimes the case, and how the rest of the cast had to react to this. Certainly different, definitely entertaining.”
4 star **** “Excellent” review by Marianna Meloni for Everything Theatre: “Piotr Mirowski and company expose the short fallings of Artificial Intelligence in a hysterically funny and occasionally bewildering unscripted show. […] The outcome is a whimsical hour of baffling exchanges in which humans and bots produce unlikely conversations.”
“Groundbreaking Work” according to John Hinton from the Fringe Review. “troupe of highly-skilled improvisers […] superb moments of comedy […] high quality comedy theatre […[…] truly extraordinary feat of software engineering […] this is a piece of work that poses serious philosophical questions”.
4 star **** review by Binge Fringe, along a “Ballsy Award” and a “Most Innovative Show Award” by the Online Paris Fringe. “All of the performers showed excellent form to carry the show through despite being scattered all over the world. […] The implementation of the AI into these traditional Improv troupe games is genius and the pace of the event doesn’t skip a beat, even in between the monumental technical efforts undertaken to splice each player into a scene. This is exactly the kind of response that the creative world will have to look towards as we continue to learn to live with the current tricky situation regarding lockdowns and restrictions on how readily artists can perform together and in front of live audiences. […] raucuous fun, pure anarchy […] not to be missed”.
5 star ***** review in “Improv at Camden Fringe – Preview Review”, by The Phoenix Remix, July 2019. “If I was Introduced to a show like this as a kid I would have definitely paid more attention to science class […] it is phenomenal to see just how much it has actually developed as a concept. It is engaging, it is like nothing else out there on the improv scene meaning that it is unique. To me, it has an essence of a Philip K. Dick novel and that is hauntingly beautiful and nerve-racking at the same time. GO SEE THIS SHOW.”
Review by Barbara Kolaric, November 2019. “All in the spirit and with the purpose of good fun, Improbotic’s Rosetta Code is an extremely interesting theatrical experiment involving technology: perhaps even more fascinating for its unusual concept […] being part of the process and observing the creativity taking place in the room was definitely a delight”
“AI Art Online”, by Luba Elliott, December 2018. AI Art Online is a collection of art, music and design created using machine learning, submitted to the NeurIPS Workshop on Machine Learning for Creativity and Design. The online gallery was curated by Luba Elliott.
Contact:
Improbotics actively tweets (@Improbotics) and posts show updates @ImproboticsLtd. If you want to stay in touch or book a show with us, you can write to us at:
contact [symbol that translates as "monkey" in Polish] improbotics.org
Improbotics 