The Day: Work created with AI returns to Molière on stage

Paris. What might France’s greatest playwright have written if he had not died in 1673? A team of French researchers and artists used artificial intelligence (AI) to create a play that they believe could have been written by Molière himself.

The astrologer, or the false omens is the result of three years of collaboration between the Sorbonne University and Obvious, a collective of three artists specializing in new technologies who trained the AI ​​to imitate the style of the famous playwright.

Molière, author of such well-known works as The miser o The misanthropeis considered the father of modern French comedy.

This new farce, written in 17th-century French, will be performed this week at the royal opera house at the Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris. It tells the story of a father so obsessed with astrology that, due to a prediction from the stars, he wants to force his daughter to marry an old wig maker.

To carry out the project, the AI ​​had to be trained “in the most subtle and documented way possible” to remain “faithful to the creative process” of the writer, Pierre-Marie Chauvin, vice president of the Sorbonne, explains to AFP.

To do this, they mainly used the generative AI tool Le Chat, from the French startup Mistral. She was trained with the works of Molière, as well as dialogues and philosophical treatises.

Specialists in ancient literature and theatrical techniques reviewed the generated text, which was also submitted to reading committees to verify, for example, its syntax and coherence.

“For the creation of the work, there were at least 20 thousand comings and goings between the algorithms and the team,” says Gauthier Vernier, from Obvious.

The AI ​​was also trained to create about 15 pieces of costumes, in addition to music and sets.

The project, which cost one million euros, coming from American and French patrons, is presented as the first play written with AI, according to the creators.

The theme of astrology quickly prevailed, since Molière was interested in “denouncing human naivety,” says Mickael Bouffard, director of the Molière Sorbonne Theatre, which seeks to recover the theatrical techniques of the 17th century.

“The plot is very Molieresque,” ​​he says.

For the dresses and sets, the technology was trained with sketches by Henri de Gissey, costume designer and court decorator of King Louis XIV.