Posts

In 2014, I wrote a manifesto on improv. A decade later, I realized I'd described some fundamental truths about generative AI. The danger of nothing? Both performers and models must embrace uncertainty, accept and expand, and find gold in chaos.

Gathering the toughest questions about the Cherry Pick Ratio that I’m grappling with, and my reflections on them

Generative AI's 'Cherry Pick Ratio' measures how many outputs a user must generate to find a useful result, impacting user tolerance and adoption.

The Golem is an early conception of artificial intelligence, a man-made creation imbued with life by manipulating code.

Early adopters are finding ways to use AI in their learning, research, and teaching. In a few years, everyone on campus will use AI every single day.

How do companies transform groundbreaking ideas into tangible products and services that revolutionize industries? The answer lies in understanding the intricate dynamics of the Market for Innovation.

This year, I'm turning 37. I'm drawn to the idea of deepening connections and exploring the vulnerability that comes with truly getting to know someone.

Early adopters of AI in art are crafting the blueprints of innovation, pioneering the frontier of creativity.

Embracing and learning from failure is essential to unlock the full potential of generative AI. And through responsible failure, AI will become an extraordinarily capable creative collaborator.

Reflections on Joseph Weizenbaum and the ethical implications of artificial intelligence.

Generative AI can change filmmaking. It has the potential to augment creative and workflows and creators have the power to shape that change.

As an artificial intelligence researcher, I believe that AI is earlier in the innovation cycle than many consider it to be. If we want to understand the future of AI, we need to understand how research becomes products.

AI is reshaping the artistic process, and raising fascinating questions about the nature of creativity and collaboration. In my latest blog post, I explore how AI is changing the relationship between artists, art, and audience, and what it means for the future of art.

For my 36th birthday, I asked friends and family to share a piece of advice, good or bad. Here's what they had to say.

Prompting generative AI models isn’t magic. It’s computer programming. Here’s how to think about writing great prompts.

Technology has these incredible moments. Moments when a new tech meets a creative idea—and something just clicks.

Live performance combining artificial intelligence-based generative models for text and images. Co-creative artists build a shared language and devise a shared narrative together.

System for co-writing screenplays and theatre scripts with language models.

For my 35th birthday, I asked friends and family to share an audio recording capturing some of their acoustic soundscape. Here's what they had to say.

This post explores what it might be like to be an artificial general intelligence (AGI)

Artificial intelligence will drastically change the theatre experience. And, it has already begun. From robots on stage, to dialog systems, to personalized performances, artists are challenging the fabric of reality and exploring just how 'live' live theatre needs to be.

BLAFF is a unique theatrical format where actors receive a script on stage, perform it cold, and improvise the rest when the pages run out.

The ultimate reading list for improvisers: 49 essential books on improv comedy, theatre, and creativity.

A collection of 34 map pins from friends for my 34th birthday, each marking a meaningful location with an associated story.

A short story exploring human-AI interaction through a conversation about playing chess, touching on boredom, optimization, and poetry.

Analyzing how Mary Shelley's Frankenstein depicts machine learning, from basic perception to social intelligence and self-awareness.

EEGEdu is an interactive, browser-based educational tool for learning about EEG brain wave data using the Muse headband.

A curated, living list of books on artificial intelligence, machine learning, and human-machine interaction.

Three research contributions on AI and improvisation at ICCC 2020, including computational creativity, narrative generation, and human-AI collaboration.

Navigating the phases of remote work adaptation during the pandemic: replication, growth, prioritization, and renormalization.

A request for friends to submit DIY tutorial videos for my 33rd birthday, teaching me how to make or do something new.

Exploring FutureTheatre: how technology, remote collaboration, and audience interaction are reshaping live performance in the pandemic era.

The Professors: an improvised lecture show where performers 'prove' absurd hypotheses suggested by the audience.

A practical guide for responsible AI development, addressing fairness, transparency, and accountability in machine learning systems.

Exploring my 2019 New Year's resolution of 'base camp' - building a foundation of personal values and sustainable practices for life and work.

Building JannJann, an SMS chatbot using Twilio, TensorFlow, and approximate nearest neighbors for live improv performances.

Defending my PhD thesis 'Humour-in-the-loop: Improvised Theatre with Interactive Machine Learning Systems' at the University of Alberta.

Britbot is an interactive chatbot art project by Libby Heany that explores questions of British identity through conversation.

Improbotics: a Turing test-inspired improv show where human actors perform alongside AI, presented at AIIDE'18.

Tracing how competitive formats shaped Canadian improvisation from 1977, and examining gender imbalance in the art form.

TEDxRFT: an improvised TED talk show where performers present slides they've never seen on topics suggested by the audience.

Introducing Pyggy and A.L.Ex., the first artificial improvisors for live human-machine theatre, presented at AIIDE'17.

Creating 'botrotica,' an art project exploring intimacy and technology through an SMS-based conversational bot.

A request for friends to submit songs for my 30th birthday playlist, with each song representing a year of my life.

A keynote on leadership lessons from improvisation, covering listening, positivity, making choices, and embracing failure.

Exploring where reinforcement learning is used in revenue-generating systems, from recommender systems to contextual bandits.

A collection of doodles gathered from friends over the years—everyone has a small drawing they make when their mind wanders.

A review of 'Collective Improvisation' by Sonja Vilč, exploring the roots and philosophies of modern improvisational theatre.

A request for friends to write essays on 'Finding Fun in Others' for my 29th birthday, exploring joy through connection.

The journey to build Pyggy, an AI system for live improvisational theatre, combining speech recognition, chatbots, and text-to-speech.

Visiting the Intelligent Robot Learning Lab at Washington State University, giving talks on reinforcement learning and robotics.

Advice and strategies for applying to and winning major Canadian graduate scholarships including NSERC, Vanier, and Killam awards.

Exploring the ethical questions of robot rights, AI responsibility, and autonomous vehicle liability.

Behind the scenes of 'Dirt City: Grime and Punishment,' a film noir comedy co-written for the 2015 Edmonton Fringe Festival.

Exploring HarshImprovNotes.com, a project collecting and analyzing harsh feedback given to improvisers during training.

A collection of handwritten letters from friends and family for my 28th birthday, continuing a tradition of meaningful birthday gifts.

For my 28th birthday, I asked friends to send handwritten notes—celebrating the lost art of handwriting in a digital age.

Reflections on Norbert Wiener's 'Cybernetics' and its foundational ideas on feedback, machine learning, and human-machine interfaces.

A tour of the Westgrid high-performance computing center at the University of Alberta, home to Jasper and Hungabee supercomputers.

An overview of computer science projects from my graduate program at the University of Alberta, including machine learning and computer vision work.

Celebrating three milestones: thesis publication, first first-author paper in MRM, and MSc convocation at the University of Alberta.

Comparing car sharing options in Edmonton, including Pogo and Hertz 24/7, with costs, features, and future predictions.

Exploring neonatal resuscitation training simulators as part of a serious game development project at the University of Alberta.

A minute-by-minute live blog of my MSc thesis defense in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta.

Notes from a workshop with The Brothers Hines on finding and playing 'The Game' in UCB-style improv comedy.

A curated list of improv blogs, podcasts, and online resources for the contemporary improviser.

Reflections on visiting Austin, Texas, highlighting its creative capital, southern hospitality, and vibrant arts scene.

A tongue-in-cheek guide to Edmonton's 15 LRT stations, featuring amenities like parking, washrooms, and airport transfers.

A One Second Everyday video compilation capturing daily moments from my summer in Portland, Oregon.

A curated guide to 36 must-do activities in Portland, Oregon, from food and hiking to improv and photobooths.

Completing my Master's in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Alberta, with thesis defense and research presentations.

A harrowing encounter with a protective mother elk while running at Jasper Park Lodge, and lessons learned about trail safety.

Reflections on running in the Arizona desert, finding wisdom in the rocks and peace in the solitude of long-distance running.

A collection of pictures and birthday wishes from friends for my 27th birthday, including a special Twilio-powered gift project.

A collection of comedy videos and sketches from Rapid Fire Theatre, TEDxRFT, and various collaborations.

A promotional video for Edmonton Community League Day 2013, created with Reel Mensch Productions.

Notes from instructing at Ladies Learning Code, a full-day WordPress development workshop at Startup Edmonton.

Exploring the meditative philosophy of running, finding clarity and introspection through the void of long-distance runs.

Exploring the challenges of duo improv and my journey to develop stronger two-person scene work through focused practice and performance.

The story of how I started doing improvisation, discovered in a 2008 article about Jewish theatre in Edmonton.

A photo collection of favorite street art discoveries from travels around the world.

Photos and reflections from the 2013 Liverpool Improvathon and exploring the vibrant arts scene of Liverpool, England.

A Christmas birthday wish asking friends and family to share their favorite stories as gifts.