SOME reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival have been generated using artificial intelligence (AI), performers have claimed.
Comedian Kieran Hodgson, best known for his role as Gordon in the BBC sitcom Two Doors Down, said he believes some online reviewers working at the Fringe have been recording shows and then using AI technology to “generate” reviews.
Speaking at an industry panel event, Hodgson said the practice made him “sick” and that it is “very clear” it has happened at shows this year, The Scotsman has reported.
The Fringe Society said it was not aware of any AI reviews on artists’ show listings on its website.
However, Hodgson said: “This year particularly, we have noticed AI reviewing coming in and it makes me sick.
“It's very clear what happens: someone sits there, presses record and at the end of it, they have generated a review.”
The comedian added that the increase in AI being used for reviewing shows has highlighted the greater need for legitimate and rigorous awards schemes at the festival.
He said: “There's stars flying around and words flying around and while everyone loves and needs good reviews and good stars, there is an integrity about how the [awards] panel does it. It's not a fix and it's nice to know it is taken seriously.”
The founder of review website The FringeReview, Paul Levy, said that although his publication has strict rules surrounding the use of AI, he believes the use of the technology is “widespread” across the industry.
He added that it is known that some websites have reviewers upload recordings of shows to automatically generate reviews.
“We know it is widespread but we don't have the evidence because it is not 100 per cent possible to prove it,” Levy said.
The senior lecturer in the School of Business and Law at Brighton University, who teaches about the ethics of using AI, said there are online tools to help verify if something has been written with the technology, but they are not fully reliable.
“One of the telltale signs that AI is likely to have been used is the use of the em dash, the longer hyphen, but the problem is that use of the em dash is quite widespread in academia for example, so a reviewer from that background may well be using it naturally,” Levy explained.
According to The Scotsman, a producer who wished not to be named said one review of a show written for a website had mentioned the performance of a song at the end of the performance.
However, they claimed that there was no song at the end of the show and that instead it would have been the performer talking over some music, which they stated a human reviewer would have been able to distinguish.
“The only possible explanation is that a recording of the show, which has the music playing, has been uploaded to AI,” they said.
The Fringe Society said it has monitoring systems in place for professional reviews on its site and that it is unaware of any AI reviews on artists’ show listings on its website.
However, they added that some other media outlets may have their own rules or standards when it comes to using AI to write reviews.
A spokesperson said: “Many industries are now engaging with AI tools across a range of areas within the workplace.
“Some media outlets may have their own rules or standards around how AI is used when writing reviews.
“We would advise artists to be wary of reviews that come from media they don't recognise from their audience and/or see on their ticketing reports. If artists become aware of questionable practices during the Fringe, we would encourage them to reach out for support from our Artist Services team.”
