AI Theatre

Maybe it's because Vancouver's "Bard on the Beach" festival is kicking off, or agile expert Yuval Yeret recently wrote a great post about Agile Theatre, but I've been thinking about that theatre a bit.

As an art form, theatre is great. But when applied to anything else, the term is derogatory:

• The security theatre we endure at airports. It causes a lot of hassle but doesn't demonstrably keep us any safer.

• The Agile/Strategy/OKR theatre that Yuval writes about. Companies adopt a methodology's outward trappings and props without buying into its deeper insights.

And so, naturally, I think of AI theatre and forms that can take:

• Press-Release-Driven Development: "Look at us, we're so innovative. We use AI!" Yet the splashy demo never gets used in production.

• FOMO-Driven Marketing: "Don't get left behind! AI is coming for all you, your job, your company, your whole industry. Buy our consulting services NOW."

• Chasing the wrong thing: Obsessing over which model tops which leaderboard or which system impressed mathematicians instead of focusing on tangible outcomes and benefits in the real world.

• Wild extrapolations, prognostications, and tangential philosophical debates. It's fun. And it's safe, because you're not putting anything immediately falsifiable out there.

It can be entertaining to watch, but the real work happens quietly and with a much more pragmatic focus.