I am Echoborg returns to LSE

Do you know what an Echoborg is? Would you know if you were dealing with one? An Echoborg is a human, whose actions are entirely dictated by Artificial Intelligence, or AI. They are a friendly, human interface for a machine. 

The interactive theatre piece I am Echoborg explores this bold new world of living with intelligent machines by giving audiences the chance to talk to a custom-built AI chatbot through an Echoborg who repeats its words. The audience are set a challenge - to discover a best possible outcome for relations between humans and intelligent machines but the AI itself has another agenda and it can also learn from the audience. The content and tone of each show, as well as the ending are different each time depending on the conversation they have.

I am Echoborg is based on academic research by London School of Economics (LSE) psychologists Kevin Corti and Alex Gillespie, who developed the Echoborg concept in 2015. 

 

We proposed the term echoborg to conceptualize, not how humans talk through technology, but, how technology talks through humans. Although our experiments were theatrical, we never imagined that it would become a performance. So it is exciting for us to see how the concept has been developed by the ‘I am Echoborg’ team. This is a real example of how research can reach beyond academic disciplines to resonate with broader issues. 

Dr Alex Gillespie

*this event is open to LSE students

Tuesday 29 October, 6.45pm