In the digital realm, ‘hallucination’ refers to misleading perceptions created by artificial intelligence systems. The AI generates false information or delivers an interpretation of reality that does not align with the actual situation. These hallucinations may arise due to erroneous data, faulty modeling, or other weaknesses in the AI’s training. Unwanted distortions ensue, the consequences and effects of which are neither foreseeable nor controllable.
In Swiss playwright Maria Ursprung’s new work, we peer into the life of Sera, a programmer. Her seemingly normal everyday life is suddenly destabilized. Rock solid certainties blur; routines come unhinged; the boundaries between Sera’s analog and digital worlds increasingly shift. What is real, what isn’t? What is artificial, what’s organic? Whose construct is Sera’s family? And who is AI, who human? HALLUZINATIONEN is a Schauspielhaus commission and is premiering under the direction of Der Faust-winner Helge Schmidt, his first time directing in Zurich.