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4
SHOW
Anne Kat Hærland
“Don’t Panic! A Guide to Artificial Intelligence»
The spider
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Can artificial intelligence be worse than the genuine idiocy we are drowning in? I Is AI worse than no intelligence at all? Such questions are what Anne Kat Hærland asks herself and her audience in her new performance at the traditional Edderkoppen Stage. “Natural stupidity has had very good living conditions, for a very long time,” says the program speech.
It is 28 years since Anne Kat Hærland appeared in the TV program “Direct happiness”. 25 years since she became nationally known through “Nytt på nytt”. Naughtier than most, but also smarter. Hærland was regularly on stage with new shows after the turn of the century. However, it has now been eight years since the last time. Many have missed her.
Artificial intelligence is a natural theme to build a show on in 2024. The phenomenon could have been a pretext to rant about all kinds of aspects of a difficult world. Hærland could use the whole evening to wreak havoc with politicians, influencers, the royal family and the press. But here there is genuine interest in the underlying phenomenon. Just interspersed with a series of sarcastic jabs at politicians, influencers, royalty and the press.
It all begins with the iconic “Also Sprach Zatathustra” music and AI-updated images of the prehistoric apes from the beginning of the movie “2001 – A Space Odyssey”. When Hærland enters the stage himself, the sound does not work immediately. Ironically, a reminder that technology cannot always be trusted. This does not tip her off the stick.
This is not a performance in which she tries to take back the throne from successors such as Sigrid Bonde Tusvik and others who have continued the legacy with sweeping, cheeky social satire. Here she is not a stand-up comedian. She also mostly sits on stage, and explains to her audience that the problems with her vision make it necessary to have a tablet in her lap throughout the performance. It’s her fault.
Anne Kat Hærland reminds us that we must still have a critical sense of what we are presented with by artificial intelligence. She has 30 years of experience in not believing what you see, she says, wise from injury. Being skeptical about development is all well and good, but being negative is like those in prehistory who dismissed fire as a passing phenomenon. Hærland has therefore immersed himself in artificial intelligence full-time for several years. She has also given lectures for the business community, and has become a consultant in NORA – Norwegian Artificial Intelligence Research Consortium. For real!
Hærland has done everything himself in this performance, including the graphic illustrations on the big screen. Alternative stories about Snow White are enjoyable. Animations with Solberg and Støre in a mashup of “The Farm” and “Political Quarter” do not seem completely finished. A similar sequence with Durek Verrett in a new future is missing a mission. Vladimir Putin in various feminine guises is not new enough to be very funny. He deserved worse. Anne Kat Hærland is best when she speaks. There she is in her good, old ace.
The performance’s “Don’t Panic” title was once used as a phrase on the cover of the book “The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy”, as a reassuring call not to lose one’s composure in encounters with new technical devices. This is also the message of Anne Kat Hærland in this performance. The subtitle “A guide to artificial intelligence” is adequate for a short but good introduction that is, at its best, truly intelligent.