www.broadwayworld.com: Imagine a Broadway where computer-generated musicals, powered by cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, take center stage. No more waiting for years for a new hit musical to be written and produced, no more limitations on special effects, and no more casting restrictions. This may sound like science fiction, but the reality is that AI is rapidly advancing and has the potential to completely revolutionize the way Broadway musicals are created, produced and experienced. From AI-generated original scores to virtual reality sets, the future of Broadway could be unlike anything we've ever seen before.
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To be honest, I find it really scary that this image is even on the horizon. How can AI replicate human emotions and put together a truly powerful and meaningful musical? Obviously we’re not at that point yet, but the idea that it’s something to work towards is disturbing. While it’s interesting to watch AI push boundaries and become more and more capable, I think any AI-created art should be presented within the frame that it is AI-created art: that is to say, as part of a larger work where it is clear that it is not “real,” or there is a meta effect other than presenting it as its own piece. To me, the idea that AI-generated theatre would become the norm is unacceptable. However I don’t think it’s a big risk; it seems unlikely that AI will ever replace human writers and composers. Still, it’s weird to think about. Maybe humanity should take a break from AI, although the technology is cool to observe.
I remember reading an article a month or two ago when AI became “popular” and brought to our attention and thinking “this is kind of cool that we’ve progressed this much to have this.” Now, it frightens me. On TikTok I’ve seen posts of AI generated designs for AI generated musicals, and they look like actual realistic designs that could one day be on stage. Art comes from the heart, and now art is being made by a computer. It’s taking the works of other people (humans for that matter), and making something else that’s new. People are using AI for homework and it’s been only like two months that we’ve gotten into a world of AI. I’m fearful of the day that an AI produced show comes to any sort of stage. It’s going to take so much community in theatre to prevent AI shows. I want to make art, not have a computer take that away from me.
Before clicking on this article, I was thinking about the popular discussion about AI writing academic papers and college application essays for students. I’m both glad and shocked by the capability of AI – I’m glad that the technology is advancing and there is a continuous conversation on this matter. At the same time, there is still a lot to be discussed in terms of the ethics of artificial intelligence, as mentioned in the article, especially when it comes to making a musical, where there are so many departments involved. AI might be able to write the plot, the script and the songs for the musical, but I think there is still a long way before putting on a full show, which includes the design, the build and everything else in between. Obviously, if everything becomes virtual, then AI has a big advantage with speed and time – what could take humans weeks to tech may be done by computers within days.
I will say that this article was a little bit frightening. It’s kind of been a joke on campus for a couple of weeks that AI‘s gonna take over the art industries but I wasn’t really aware of where AI has advanced too already. I’m glad that this article tested the AI‘s ability just so they could form their own opinions on the quality of content that it’s creating. From what I’m seeing it does have the capacity to create some thing that people would actually enjoy. And when they noted that it was plagiarizing other works I’m curious how if we were to say write a musical using this artists songs would it be able to do that and create more of a jukebox musical which wouldn’t be considered plagiarizing unless they are stealing the story for the musical from somewhere else. I personally don’t believe AI will be creating any musicals for the stage unless it’s more of an experimental format to perform what the AI has created. I do believe that humans will continue to be the driving force in writing musicals and plays.
Before reading the article, my answer to Could AI-Written Musicals Ever Come To Broadway, is yes absolutely. I don’t think it is a good idea but I think that the technology will continue to get better and you don’t need to pay robots to do things. We live in a society where unfortunately theatre needs to make money in order to survive. Greedy people will argue that AI-written theatre is good enough for the stage regardless of if it's true because they want to save money.
Currently, it seems that the technology isn’t good enough to produce full work. The problem comes when the AI thinks that it's okay to borrow from other creators to create its “own” work. But, with that said, this technology is expanding rapidly. It is not taking years to improve it is taking mere months. The ethical problems may slow down this art form from taking center stage but I do think, at least in some places, it is inevitable.
One reason AI could not write excellent or cutting-edge musicals is that there is not currently a way to train AI other than feeding it source material. Even if AI is exposed to all sorts of media, such as plays, movies, TV shows, and musicals, there will always be some template it follows, which is not true of many newer hit musicals. Most of the current hit musicals are inspired by things that there are only a few visual media about, and it's a fresh take on the subject matter. To achieve this with an AI, the AI would have to be familiar with all of history, every human emotion, and the science of storytelling, and then be given the most basic of parameters such as "Must have characters, must have dialogue, must have musical numbers, must have a story arc."
On ethical AI use, even if the AI is fed lots of media, unless the AI is taught about copyright and plagiarism, it would be hard to identify where the AI is pulling inspiration from and if it's gone as far as plagiarizing.
While the idea of machines creating artistic works may seem far-fetched, the rapid advancements in artificial intelligence and machine learning are making it increasingly feasible. One of the key benefits of AI-generated musicals is the potential for a more efficient and cost-effective creative process. The technology could potentially automate many of the repetitive and time-consuming tasks involved in writing a musical, freeing up more time for human artists to focus on other aspects of the production.
However, the use of AI in the arts also raises concerns about the authenticity and uniqueness of the creative process. Many artists and audiences place a high value on the emotional and personal connection between the creator and the work, and it is unclear whether this connection can be replicated by a machine.
Tthe prospect of AI-written musicals coming to Broadway is both exciting and concerning. While the technology has the potential to revolutionize the creative process and bring new efficiencies to the industry, it is also important to consider the role of human creativity and the value placed on emotional connection in the arts. As technology continues to evolve, it will be interesting to see how it affects the future of musical theater and the creative process as a whole.
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