* Originally in: SF_Reality

I think therefore I am: cutting-edge AI used to 'revive spirit' of French
Mark Twain and spawn a new sharp satire more than 350 years after his death

Date:
Fri, 15 May 2026 20:35:00 +0000

Description:
French researchers trained artificial intelligence on Molires writings, producing a theatrical comedy that premiered before audiences at Versailles Opera.

FULL STORY
French theatre Scholars rewrote AI-generated scenes thousands of times
before public performances -- A group of scholars at the
Sorbonne University haVE spent two and a half years teaching artificial intelligence to think like Molire, a 17th-century playwright.

The French dramatist is often compared to Shakespeare or Mark Twain for his cultural weight, and although he died in 1673, his distinctive voice now
fills a new threeact comedy, LAstrologue ou les Faux Prsages , which
premiered on May 6 and 7 2026. The team fed a French AI tool called Le Chat with everything Molire wrote and extensive historical literary material, a process which involved roughly 20,000 exchanges between researchers, literature scholars, linguists, historians, and the machine.

The play tells a classic Molireesque story. A
wealthy Parisian father, guided by a fake astrologer named Pseudoramus,
forces his daughter to marry an old and debtridden wigmaker.

An audience of 100 people, including the culture minister, saw two performances last week at the Royal Opera inside the Chteau de Versailles.

One theatregoer called the effort a success. "The plot feels so real, the subject matter is so close to what were used to hearing in these plays," he said.

Each scene went through numerous rewrites, with the director, Mickal
Bouffard, admitting Le Chats first draft ran to only eight pages that were
not very interesting. Critics have offered mixed reactions to the outcome. While some felt it was a pretty decent work, others believe it is nothing
more than ordinary.

Christophe Sfrin, a technology editor, described the AI imitation as "striking, almost disconcerting entirely believable."

Telerama, a magazine, called the project a crazy venture but noted that the play at times seems like a pastiche of the playwrights work.

However, a member of the audience rejected the entire premise, saying, "A decent writer can do this without artificial intelligence."

Using AI to imitate Molire would normally cause outrage in France, but the project avoided this because academic experts at the Thtre Molire Sorbonne
run it.

A recent report to the national assembly called generative AI a marvellous opportunity but also warned that it poses a threat to many professions in the cultural sector.

The report argued for a balance between different forms of creation. The
plays director believes that a balance has been struck.

We are demonstrating in concrete terms something that can be achieved in a novel way with AI, he said. Not a play written by AI, but a play cowritten with it.

The production now plans to tour across France and travel abroad. Whether audiences outside the Sorbonne will embrace a machineassisted Molire remains an open question.

The projects very existence reveals a deeper tension. AI can store and replicate an entire literary universe, yet the final judgment still belongs
to living theatregoers who value human invention over algorithmic pastiche.

Via The Guardian

Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/i-think-therefore-i-am-cutting-edge-ai-used-to-r evive-spirit-of-french-mark-twain-and-spawn-a-new-sharp-satire-more-than-350-y ears-after-his-death

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