AI-written play reviving Moliere’s style premieres in Palace of Versailles

A play written in the style of the famous 17th-century French playwright Moliere by artificial intelligence (AI) premiered in the Royal Opera of Palace of Versailles -- where Louis XIV, Moliere's patron, held his court centuries ago -- on Tuesday (May 5), after years of development.

Moliere scholars from Sorbonne University and French AI artist collective Obvious have teamed up for the production, entitled "L'Astrologue ou les Faux Presages" (The Astrologer or the False Omens").

"What might Moliere have written in 1674, if he hadn't died? And it's with a unique collective of scientists and artists that we were able to offer an answer with four original creations: texts, music, sets, and costumes," said vice-president for Arts, Sciences, Culture and Society at Sorbonne University Pierre-Marie Chauvin.

"It's a total art experience with AI, not by AI."

The project, titled "Moliere Ex Machina," began in 2023 and employs the French-developed Mistral AI, trained using Moliere's works, personal library texts, and historical documents to replicate the playwright's language and humour.

The plot centres on Geronte, a gullible bourgeois who falls prey to a fraudulent astrologer scheming to marry Geronte's daughter to a deceitful wigmaker, despite her love for another.

Researchers found hints in Moliere's writings to his views on astrology, sometimes used as a means to swindle his contemporaries, which lead the scholars to believe it could have been the subject of his next play, had he not died in 1673.

"Can a play written with AI be funny? Can AI have a sense of humour? And today, we saw that it does, and the audience laughed just as much as when I direct a Moliere play in a very historically accurate way," said Mickael Bouffard the director and head of the Sorbonne's Theatre Moliere, which integrates historical techniques, including handmade costumes and sets, to recreate performances as vibrant as those in Moliere's era.

AI and human collaborators worked jointly to build the play, with AI generating approximately 20 versions of each scene, which are then modified through 20 iterative edits before achieving a historically accurate script. The text is subsequently reviewed by 17th-century literature specialists and linguists.

Original sketches by Henri Gissey, a 17th-century artist and Moliere collaborator, were also used to train the AI on costume design.

Outputs were refined by the Theatre Moliere Sorbonne team and hand-stitched using period-authentic embroidery and sewing techniques.

"I think it's important to show that artificial intelligence isn't all bad, that it's good to be able to use it for creative purposes, but that we have to be careful how we use it," said audience member Sidonie David Kempf.

"In this case, it's a good example because Moliere's world was very well represented in this play."

-Manuel Ausloos/Reuters