PROLOGUE

Opening a full conference day focused on AI and theater, the fireside chat will map the core tensions AI brings to performative art—between human and machine authorship, presence and simulation, control and unpredictability. Curator and moderator AC Coppens is joined by researcher and immersive designer Tawny Schlieski, whose work spans speculative futures, intelligent systems, and embodied storytelling. Through her practice in designing responsive environments and narrative technologies, Tawny brings a lens to how AI can reshape performance and experience. The fireside chat serves as a prologue, opening the conference discussions for the day.