Melbourne International Comedy Festival unleashes the IA to help the public create the perfect evening outside

Like many artificial intelligence programs, there are sobs. When this masthead asked Funny Finder to show shows on a date, he was greeted with an error. The web page warns of this possibility: saying that “it is still learning and sometimes it could be wrong.” He asks for users to be patient as he improves.

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But when working as expected, Dylan Cole, executive director of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, says that Funny Finder will allow the Festival’s visitors to find emerging artists on the program in continuous growth of the event because it shows no prejudice to the most popular acts. This year’s program will present 685 shows of over 1800 artists.

“We feel like if he were a first one,” says Cole. “No artistic festival or artistic company has already done this. (Overcon) Our challenge to navigate in what is sometimes an overwhelming program.”

Dr. Thomas Saltsman, professor of social psychology at the Singapore campus of the University of Buffalo, says that Funny Finder could prevent the Festival from experimenting “overload of choice”.

“We like to have access to all those options … but when we get there, having to actually choose, it can be a little paralyzing, it can be slightly overwhelming and people are less likely to make a choice,” says Saltsman.

When they make a choice, people tend to experience greater regret and dissatisfaction, he says. Reassign the task could therefore be useful.

“If the program begins to choose for us, then it takes away this onerous burden of having to choose … and these things can optimize these situations for us, which is wonderful and certainly save time,” says Saltsman.

Compagnone sees a future in which such a tool could help elsewhere, for example, in creating a dinner list and helping you order online shopping.

“It’s just a new way of doing things … it’s just giving another option,” says Compagnone. “In a sense, you can think about it how to outsource your administrator to your small artificial intelligence intern and then spend time doing the things you like.

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“We think it could be applied to almost everything … the more information has something, the better … it can only help you find the needle in the pavilion, without you doing heavy lifting.”

But Saltsman stresses that artificial intelligence tools are far from perfect. For example, they could threaten some of our human skills to make independent decisions.

“I think if it becomes easier and easier to rely on algorithms to make choices for us, then we are not flexing those decision -making muscles,” he says. “And I fear that we will no longer find value independently.”

Instead, Saltsman recommends using artificial intelligence programs as an option between a series of decision-making devices-to use it as a tool, not a rule “-in the context of the festival that for other decisions.

“With many of these festivals, there are so many content … it would be really expensive to pass and find all the optimal things,” says Saltsman. “This could certainly be a useful tool … not as a way to remove any choice or autonomy, but use it as a guide.”

Things could be suggested and suggestions could be good, he says. “But not even the algorithm will be able to predict all possible factors that could model your enjoyment of something.”

The 2025 edition of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival takes place from 26 March to 20 April. Tickets are available from the Festival website.

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