Molière Ex Machina: AI used to create ‘new work’ by beloved French playwright
Molière is to the French what Shakespeare is to the English: the last word in historical literature, drama, wit and satire.Now, more than 350 years after his death, the 17th-century dramatist has been revived after scholars at the Sorbonne University in Paris used artificial intelligence to help write an experimental play in his style.L’Astrologue ou les Faux Présages (The Astrologer, or False Omens), a three-act comedy, made its debut at the Royal Opera at the Château de Versailles last week.The two-hour play tells the story of a wealthy bourgeois Parisian who, under the instruction of a charlatan astrologer called Pseudoramus, insists his daughter Lucile marry a debt-ridden and elderly wigmaker.While the theme could well have been dreamed up by Molière, the dialogue, music, costumes and scenery were all created with the help of a French AI tool called Le Chat (The Cat).
A group of researchers at the Sorbonne worked on the project, called Molière Ex Machina, for two and a half years,The team included a three-person group of artists and researchers called Obvious,The production involved what they described as “intellectual ping pong” of about 20,000 exchanges between researchers, classical literature scholars, linguists, historians and Le Chat,As the team fed more information into the AI assistant, each word and scene it came up with went through numerous rewrites as the researchers explained to the AI assistant why certain passages did not work and asked it to try again,“The process was long and demanding,” said the play’s director, Mickaël Bouffard, the head of the Théâtre Molière Sorbonne.
He added that Le Chat’s first draft ran to only eight pages that were “not very interesting” and as a result “scenes had to be revised multiple times”.“AI has a superpower: the ability to store everything Molière wrote and everything Molière read,” Bouffard told France Info.“We human beings can’t do that.”The theme of astrology, which featured in at least one original Molière play, and the play’s title were suggested by the AI and touched on current preoccupations regarding the use of the technology.“Astrology allows us to discuss manipulation, false beliefs and disinformation, which are particularly topical subjects,” said Pierre-Marie Chauvin, an associate professor at the Sorbonne.
Molière, who died in 1673, was so influential that French is often referred to as “the language of Molière”.AI remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and has generated intense debate.Using it to imitate Molière would have caused outrage in France were the project not being carried out by academic experts at the Théâtre Molière, which specialises in accurately reconstructing 17th-century productions.A report submitted to the national assembly last year suggested generative AI was a “marvellous opportunity, a stimulating tool and a powerful driver of creativity”.But it also said AI “poses a threat to many professions in the cultural sector because it enables the production of content that may compete directly with human creations”, adding: “It is necessary to strike a balance between different forms of creation.
”Chauvin said L’Astrologue had struck that balance,“We are demonstrating in concrete terms something that can be achieved in a novel way with AI,Not a play written by AI, but a play co-written with it,” he said,An audience of 100 people, including Catherine Pégard, the culture minister, saw the play during two performances last week,Afterwards, one audience member said: “I think it’s a success.
The plot feels so real, the subject matter is so close to what we’re used to hearing in these [Molière] plays.”Another theatregoer was less impressed.“A decent writer can do this without artificial intelligence,” he said.“I think we [humans] still have a bright future.”Christophe Séfrin, the technology editor for the news website 20 Minutes, attended one of the two performances.
He described the AI imitation as “striking, almost disconcerting” and said the dialogue was “entirely believable”.The magazine Telerama described it as a “crazy venture” but said the play at times “seems like a pastiche of the playwright’s work”.The Théâtre Molière Sorbonne and Obvious plan to perform the play across France and to take it abroad.
Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman … Gout Gout: Australian sprint star features on 60 Minutes in US
It has previously been an honour reserved for the likes of Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman. Now, sprint sensation Gout Gout has joined an elite club of Australian A-listers to be the focus of a story on respected US current affairs programme 60 Minutes.The 18-year-old was interviewed this week by long-time Sports Illustrated writer Jon Wertheim, who also spoke to coach Di Sheppard for the 13-minute story.The programme is one of the most popular in the USA and can attract audiences of more than 10m Americans, highlighting the growing phenomenon of Gout, who became the fastest teenager to run 200m last month in Sydney.The story has been shared widely online, and drew attention from the athletics community
Iga Swiatek finds her flawless best to dismantle Naomi Osaka at Italian Open
Iga Swiatek produced a statement victory in a battle between two of the game’s best, mercilessly dismantling Naomi Osaka 6-2, 6-1 to return to the quarter-finals of the Italian Open.This was the type of confidence-building performance Swiatek, the fourth seed, has been seeking for some time. After a tense opening four games, the four-time French Open champion put together a near flawless match, winning 10 of the last 11 games. Swiatek found a sweet balance between stifling Osaka with her heavy topspin and offensive weaponry while also drawing errors from her adversary with her tireless consistency.In a match that pitted the six-time grand slam champion Swiatek versus the four-time major champion Osaka, this was by far the most eye-catching meeting of the tournament so far
‘You guys wanna see a dead body?’ The slow death of the Philadelphia 76ers’ Process era
The Sixers’ season ended in a humiliating sweep at the hands of the Knicks. There are reasons to believe the franchise can recover though“You guys wanna see a dead body?”Old heads remember that scene in Stand By Me, four boys hike through the Oregon wilderness to find the body of a dead boy. They walk for miles for the morbid prize of seeing something that can’t be unseen. When they finally arrive and stand over the body, nobody says a word. There’s nothing left to say
Glamorgan beat Somerset to claim first home win in Division One: county cricket, day four – as it happened
Glamorgan’s overseas fast bowler Ryan Hadley was the unlikely batting hero at Sophia Gardens, doubling his first-class average to squeak the home side over the line against Somerset. Hadley, who was sent in on Sunday evening as nightwatchman, laboured for 231 balls to 50 not out, winning the game and bringing up his maiden half‑century with a straight drive. He was given a huge hug from partner Mason Crane, handshakes from Tom Abell and most of the Somerset team, before taking giant strides back to the applause of the dressing room. “I was telling the boys I hadn’t been dismissed since coming here, as a joke, so was saying earlier it’s inevitable they’re going to get me for the first time, but I’m still here – it’s a miracle,” he said.It was Glamorgan’s first win on home soil in Division One, and if it was methodically slow, no one was complaining
Is CTE really the main reason behind the rise in NFL player suicides?
When an NFL player takes his own life, there is often speculation about why. Injuries and unemployment – a common occurrence in a violent sport where players are frequently traded and cut – have been linked with increased risks of suicidal ideation. In parallel to those factors, however, exists chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). A degenerative brain condition caused by repeated trauma to the head, CTE’s links with football are established and almost impossible to ignore. Players ranging from widely admired Pro Bowlers such as Junior Seau and Dave Duerson, to those infamous for more notorious reasons, such as Aaron Hernandez and Phillip Adams, were all confirmed to have CTE by autopsies
Counties face points deductions for financial losses under strict new ECB rules
Cricket counties will face automatic points deductions for making repeated losses under strict new financial rules that will be introduced next season.The Guardian has learned that the England and Wales Cricket Board is planning to bring in its own version of football’s profitability and sustainability rules (PSR) underpinned by points deductions in a shadow form next year to give counties time to adjust, before fixed punishments for clubs that fail to break even are introduced in 2028.The proposed new rules are understood to be similar to the financial framework operated by the Premier League and EFL, whose clubs are limited to making losses of £105m and £39m respectively over a rolling three-year period.The Premier League is dropping PSR next season in favour of new regulations that will cap player spending to 85% of a club’s football revenues, but the EFL’s profitability and sustainability limits will remain in place.Under the ECB’s version of PSR, counties would be required to show they are running profitable businesses over a four-year period, with fixed tariffs in place for those that consistently lose money
What I saw at the Musk-OpenAI trial: petty billionaires, protests and a stern judge
Who is Louis Mosley, the man tasked with defending Palantir against its critics?
AI-powered surveillance company Palantir created a chore coat. Great, now I have no choice but to burn mine | Van Badham
‘Being human helps’: despite rise of AI is there still hope for Europe’s translators?
UK schools should remove pupils’ online photos as AI blackmail threat grows, say experts
Europe’s AI translation industry told it risks reputation by partnering with US firms