Abstract

This paper explores the intersection of theatre arts and artificial intelligence, investigating the
transformative potential and inherent challenges presented by this emerging technological
paradigm. As AI systems become increasingly sophisticated in natural language processing,
computer vision, and creative generation, they are beginning to influence the foundational
elements of theatrical creation and performance. Using Peter Brook’s Empty Space Theory and
Joseph Schumpeter’s Theory of Technological Emergence, this paper examines the prospects of
the application of AI across the theatrical process, including its role as a tool for playwrights in
generating and developing text, as a scenographic partner in creating dynamic and responsive
visual environments, and as an on-stage performer, raising fundamental questions about presence,
agency, and the definition of acting. Concurrently, the paper critically analyses the significant
challenges that arise from this integration. These challenges encompass the philosophical debate
over algorithmic authorship and creativity, the practical concerns of technical reliability and the
erosion of liveness, the potential for embedded biases in AI models to perpetuate harmful
stereotypes, and the socioeconomic impact on theatre practitioners. The paper concludes by
arguing that the successful and ethical integration of AI into theatre will depend not on a binary
choice between human and machine, but on a deliberate and critically informed process of
collaboration, where AI serves as a catalyst for new forms of artistic expression while the primacy
of human intention, empathy, and embodied presence remains the core of the th