The Scotsman
·Aug 2026
Artificially Yours: Four Fringe Theatre Shows Asking What AI Means for Being Human
Four Edinburgh Fringe productions examine artificial intelligence through stories of robot romance, digital recreation, self-optimization and an AI butler. Already Here uses grief and an AI companion to question whether human beings are also shaped by scripts and social codes. Love in the Cracks offers striking technology and projections but is criticized for reducing the debate to technology versus family. ASURA explores the tension between pre-planned systems and authentic performance, while The RemAIns of the Butler argues that empathy, attentive listening and flexible social judgment remain distinctly human qualities. Together, the shows suggest that AI is most revealing when treated as a mirror of human behavior rather than as a substitute for human experience.