Maybe Happy Ending by Al Sikes

“May you live in interesting times” is an English expression that is claimed to be a translation of a traditional Chinese curse. The expression is ironic: “interesting” times are usually times of trouble. Wikipedia

Interesting indeed. Is artificial intelligence (AI) a promising new technology or is it an explosive algorithmic invention newly embedded in both culture and business? And yes, the arts.

My wife and I, with friends, walked out of the Broadway show “Maybe Happy Ending” having been bedazzled. We knew it won the Tony Award (highest recognition) and anticipated an entertaining experience. What we got was way more than we expected. Its story, infused with extraordinary writing, tuneful music, and ingenious staging, was a brilliant fusion of the past with the robotic future. We got to look on as generative robotics led to human aspirations and wistful romance.

Later I decided to see what the critics had said about Maybe Happy Ending—to see if they could add a few more minutes to my curiosity. Predictably, they could not because what bedazzled me could not be expressed in words. Not their words or mine. Although in a sense, the show’s magnetism shone as we had to queue around two blocks of New York’s theater district to await the Belasco Theater’s opening. Playgoers were excited.

My meager research for interesting reviews took me to ChapGPT, the artificial intelligence Bot; after all the show’s essence is portrayed by two late in life robots whose budding love affair is attenuated by their artificial existence. I would ask my robot what it thought.

I asked: “Should I go see Maybe Happy Ending?” I was trying to avoid any telltale emotion.

The response recited what I knew and yes I should go see it. I then revealed that I had seen the musical and called it “brilliant”. Its response: “That’s fantastic to hear—brilliant is high praise! It’s a special kind of show that sneaks up on you emotionally, isn’t it? Was there a moment, performance, or song that especially stood out to you?”

The conversation went on for another question/answer or two. I was intrigued—suddenly I was talking to a robot about a show about robots. And I was adding to the Large Language Model (LLM) that informs the resourceful Bot. The Bot was programmed to be generative—extend its data base by using the new data.

So yes, I thought the show was brilliant. I enthusiastically recommend you see it. And my post-show experience was telling; I went beyond using AI just as a research tool.  Would I want to drop ChatGPT in favor of another Bot now that ChatGPT has a part of me in its database? Looks to me like a first mover advantage.

Could AI have conceived and produced the show? No! But as we reveal to chatbots more and more of our emotions, and we will, don’t bet against AI becoming a challenging competitor. The capital invested in AI-related companies assures its intense use anywhere a return on that investment is possible.

The future is ours, but it will be a different future. Interesting times for sure.

Past As Prologue

“Past is prologue”, philosophers proclaim. Barely recallable, the years that preceded Donald Trump’s first election paved the way. And now, as the President is forced to defend his past, his belittling techniques have become especially toxic. Biden, he barks, was not sentient, Hillary and Barack were criminals and on and on. How will this modus operandi inform America’s future?

First, the present is a mess. It features vengeful politics, aggressive polarization and an infantile reaction by the majority of Members in our most important constitutional branch of government, the Congress. Most Members who voted for the “big beautiful bill” barely knew what was in it.

Soon enough, candidates competing to be sworn in as the 48th President of the United States will begin campaigning to succeed Trump. It might well be the most important election in the 21st Century. The next President, regardless of political Party, needs to put United back as a predicate to States—The United States of America. While our large and diverse nation will continue to invite debate, we need to resurrect respect.

Al Sikes is the former Chair of the Federal Communications Commission under George H.W. Bush. Al writes on themes from his book, Culture Leads Leaders Follow published by Koehler Books.