I Am A Strange LLM | Matthew Gasda & Isobel McCrum | TEDxPaloAltoSalon

Matthew and Isobel explore how large language models can become collaborators in the creative process. In a fearless, informal dialogue, they delve into how LLM tools can illuminate the art of verbal creativity and character development in dramatic writing. Blending art, philosophy, and machine learning, they take us on a playful, mind-bending journey through the strange loops of consciousness, identity, and creativity, both human and artificial. Matthew Gasda is a playwright, director, and novelist based in New York City and the founder of the Brooklyn Center for Theater Research. His work explores the emotional and intellectual undercurrents of contemporary life, examining themes of identity, performance, desire, and cultural decay through ensemble casts and stylized dialogue. Known for his commitment to independent theater and DIY production, Gasda has written and staged numerous plays—including Dimes Square, Berlin Story, Ardor, Zoomers, Doomers, and Soonest Mended (that have attracted devoted followings for their incisive wit, philosophical depth, and naturalistic staging). His plays are often set in spaces of social tension (apartments, bars, dinner parties) where intimacy and conflict unfold simultaneously.

In addition to his theatrical work, Gasda is the author of several novels, including The Sleepers, and numerous essays. He is deeply engaged with the intersections of aesthetics, history, and thought, and his writing reflects a reverence for classical forms fused with a distinctly modern sensibility. Gasda's work has been compared to that of Eric Rohmer, Richard Linklater, and Wallace Shawn, but his voice remains unmistakably his own: raw, searching, and alert to the beauty and absurdity of everyday life.

Isobel McCrum is a language engineer and historian investigating the moral and material consequences of large language models, both in product development and at large. At Microsoft, she works at the intersection of ethics, design, and engineering, developing tools and frameworks to better understand model behavior and safeguard the integrity of human cognition in generative systems. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges language patterns, technical architecture, and responsible innovation. As a co-founder of Folly Productions, Isobel also explores these questions through storytelling, confronting the cultural and psychological tension that generative technology provokes. Using narrative to generate conversation, Isobel’s creative work embraces ambiguity, asking audiences what it means to be human in an era shaped by transhumanist possibility., This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx

Видео I Am A Strange LLM | Matthew Gasda & Isobel McCrum | TEDxPaloAltoSalon канала TEDx Talks