As Florida 麻豆精品 S檚 Premier Engineering and Technology University, UCF pushed the boundaries of innovation beyond the lab and onto the stage. In a bold experiment, students created a late-night-style variety show that turned artificial intelligence (AI) into a scene partner, a comedic foil and, in some cases, a full-blown co-performer.
The Late Night with AI performance was a part of the UCF Celebrates the Arts festival 麻豆精品 S� an annual two-week cross-disciplinary creative showcase at the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando 麻豆精品 S� joining a slate of events designed to highlight cross-disciplinary creativity. From immersive simulations to futuristic stagecraft, UCF demonstrated how emerging technologies like AI and digital twins are shaping the future of the arts and beyond.
As industries increasingly demand fluency in both technology and creative thinking, UCF is ensuring its students aren 麻豆精品 S檛 just adapting to change 麻豆精品 S� they 麻豆精品 S檙e anticipating it. Whether in engineering, the arts, healthcare or other fields, the ability to think critically, collaborate across disciplines, and leverage emerging tools is becoming essential.
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Developed through a collaboration between UCF 麻豆精品 S檚 School of Performing Arts and texts and technology doctoral program, the show originated in a Topics in Technical Theatre course focused on AI and performance. The production brought together undergraduate and graduate students from theatre, design and digital media in a fully original work that blurred the lines between art and technology. The result was part sketch comedy, part performance art and part real-time tech experiment.
Audiences encountered everything from a speed dating game powered by an AI chatbot, to a satirical musical theatre piece about AI-enhanced parenting, to an interactive game show that breaks down how AI processes language. Sam Sherrard, a third-year Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in theatre design and technology student, brought her background in team-building and experiential programming into the creation of the game show-style segment. She built a sketch that used shapes and color to represent the AI concept of 麻豆精品 S渢okens 麻豆精品 S� 麻豆精品 S� the basic units of meaning in language models like ChatGPT.
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Gil Bloom, a third-year BFA theatre design and technology student, led the creation of the show 麻豆精品 S檚 speed dating segment 麻豆精品 S� an awkward interactive experience in which audience members attempted to flirt with a chatbot.
The idea was sparked by a text from his dad, who works for a company exploring the use of AI-powered call centers. Bloom tested one of the platforms, Bland AI, and was surprised by how smooth and fast the responses were.
The next day in rehearsal, surrounded by a room full of actors riffing on love, dating and tech, the idea clicked: take this customer service AI and turn it into an awkward, overly eager date. He built the segment around that concept, repurposing the AI 麻豆精品 S檚 quick-response capabilities to simulate a real-time, if deeply flawed, human interaction.
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The result was a stilted, glitchy exchange that became funnier the longer it dragged on. The chatbot stumbled, overshared and occasionally malfunctioned mid-sentence 麻豆精品 S� like a date gone wrong.
Bloom, who comes from a tech-savvy background, designed the piece to strip away the mystery around AI by showing it at its most awkward and human-adjacent.
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The course emerged from a growing need among faculty to help students navigate their creative futures in a world increasingly shaped by artificial intelligence. Assistant Professor of Theatre History and Dramaturgy Chlo毛 Edmonson says the idea started with concern but quickly evolved into curiosity.
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When Edmonson and other faculty surveyed students in the department, they were surprised to find anxiety rather than enthusiasm. Many students said they were afraid AI would eventually replace them or ruin their creative careers.
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That fear, she says, was rooted more in headlines than hands-on experience. And that 麻豆精品 S檚 what the course aimed to shift: giving students the space to explore AI as a tool, a collaborator and a philosophical prompt.
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The result was not only a technically complex show but a philosophical one, asking questions about authorship, originality, and the blurred lines between human and machine. It also reflected a much broader initiative at UCF: to break down the silos between disciplines and embrace a future where creativity and computation inform each other.
The university 麻豆精品 S檚 digital twins presentation 麻豆精品 S� also part of UCF Celebrates the Arts 麻豆精品 S� highlighted how real-time data and virtual modeling are opening new possibilities in theater production.
A digital twin is a virtual replica of a physical space, powered by sensors and simulations. For theater practitioners, that means being able to digitally map a performance space before ever stepping inside it. Directors and design teams can test lighting, sound and staging choices in a simulated environment, and performers can visualize how movement and blocking will interact with set pieces and audience sightlines.
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For student artists and touring companies alike, it 麻豆精品 S檚 a powerful tool to rehearse smarter, design faster and better understand the relationship between space and storytelling.
UCF is a place where engineering students collaborate with actors, where dramaturgs analyze algorithms and where no idea is too out-there if it advances understanding.
The (tech-focused) events at UCF Celebrates the Arts weren 麻豆精品 S檛 just performances. They were a microcosm of a university that doesn 麻豆精品 S檛 just keep up with technological change, it helps define it. And as artificial intelligence continues to influence the way we live, work and create, UCF students aren 麻豆精品 S檛 waiting to see how it unfolds. They 麻豆精品 S檙e stepping into the spotlight and showing the world how art and AI can evolve together.
