Outputs by AI (such as ChatGPT) are a form of theatrical performance. Alexa Alice Joubin (co-founder of the Digital Humanities Institute at George Washington University) brings performance studies theories to the study of AI. It is crucial to recognize and unpack how generative AI tools are changing the publics’ relationship to themselves. Professor Joubin argues that AI draws on users’ prompts and the publics’ collective memories to produce performances for its user-audiences. A more accurate and nuanced description of ChatGPT is that it is an aesthetic instrument rather than an instrument of reason or an epistemological tool.

     This interactive presentation theorizes AI in the framework of digital humanities and provide pedagogical strategies for educators to teach with AI rather than against it.

     The event was moderated by Professor Pin-chia Feng and organized by the English and American Literature Association in Taiwan. The video recording is now available on YouTube.