Comedians will again battle ChatGPT in an event at Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse on Columbia Pike tomorrow (Thursday).
Local comedian Rahmein Mostafavi will host the interactive comedy show “Comedian vs. Machine” at the theater at 2903 Columbia Pike. He will be flanked by two other comedians helping him “carry the funny” — Baltimore comic Josh Kuderna and D.C.-based comic Becca DiLuzio.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. for a 7 p.m. show start time.
This won’t be Mostafavi’s first time battling artificial intelligence. He hosted a comedy show against ChatGPT last September — an experience that he says taught him “what segments worked best and more about how the technology needed to be used to maximize timeliness and efficiency.”
Mostafavi, while preparing for the show, shared with ARLnow that he believes comedians can use AI and other technology to their advantage.
“As comedians, we observe everything happening in the world. Politics. Society. Self,” said Mostafavi, “AI is a new entity we are all experiencing for the first time. So as comics, we will add our [point-of-view] about it in our jokes because it’s part of our reality, ironically.”
Although AI can write essays, email newsletters and generate images, Mostafavi says that for him, the new technology is just a “fun alternative” that will not change his approach to comedy.
And while there is a great deal of concern about how AI might replace artists, or at least steal their work, Mostafavi says he believes AI does not stand a chance against him and his comic entourage.
“Human experience is a must for top-level comedy,” said Mostafavi. “AI can write basic jokes but it will never be human.”