Cute or creepy, that is the question of liveness: can artificial actors perform live?

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Sahar Sajadieh
Department of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego

This paper examines the liveness of the performative acts of technologically simulated or synthesized agents in interaction with humans. It questions the ability of artificial performers to construct a sense of live presence on stage and in other daily performative scenarios and evaluates our perception of liveness in those contexts. In this critical and comparative analysis, I study the live quality of Hatsune Miku’s live musical performances – a computer-generated cyber celebrity with a three-dimensional holographic body and an artificially synthesized singing voice – and the stimulating interactions of PARO, the seal – an adorable therapeutic cuddle-robot utilized as an emotional companion in nursing homes and hospitals. Using performance and media theories, I examine the audience/users’ affective responses and engagement quality with the holographic singer and the robotic pet, directly leading to the acceptance or rejection of the claim to the liveness of these techno-actors. This research also evaluates the impact of the application of cuteness (or kawaii) in designing non-human agents versus the emergence of creepiness in interactions with their incorporeal bodies on our emotive response. The objective is to study the difference between the liveness and aliveness of non-human, non-living performing agents and the impact of evoking the sense of “cute” versus “creepy” on warping the Uncanny Valley Curve.

Keywords
techno-liveness, techno-actor, kawaii, liveness, digital performers, computer-generated artificial actors

Article Details

How to Cite
Sajadieh, Sahar. “Cute or creepy, that is the question of liveness: can artificial actors perform live?”. Artnodes, 2023, no. 32, pp. 1-9, doi:10.7238/artnodes.v0i32.412093.
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(c) Sahar Sajadieh, 2023


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Author Biography

Sahar Sajadieh, Department of Visual Arts, University of California, San Diego

Sahar is a computational media and performance artivist (artist + activist) and theorist. She is a UC Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC San Diego Department of Visual Arts with a PhD in Media Arts and Technology at UCSB. Sahar graduated with a dual BSc–BA degree in Computer Science and Theater from the University of British Columbia and received her master’s degree from the Performance Studies Department at New York University, Tisch School of the Arts. Her creative and scholarly practice lie at the intersection of computational arts, artificial intelligence, social justice-oriented design, and performance/media theory. She is interested in the creative and critical applications of natural language processing, machine learning, extended reality, and robotics as means of storytelling, poetic expression, and social intervention. For Sahar, art practice is a form of activism, a way to challenge the public’s comfort zone and provoke dialogues about difficult, unspoken issues in society. Her research focuses on making interactive technologies and artificial intelligence more alive and their societal applications more ethical. To see her work please visit her website: http://www.saharsajadieh.com/.

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