From producing visual art to chaotic memes, artificial intelligence has been showing up in new and unexpected ways, drawing concern from creatives about the new technology’s abilities. 

Local pun professionals took it upon themselves to put artificial intelligence to the test and determine who would reign supreme: human thought or the AI bot. 

Wordplay, music and comedy converged at Byte Night, the com-pun-tition held Saturday night. The ColdTowne Theater hosted a showdown between local comedians and Chat GPT to determine who would emerge victorious as the pun master. 

“There’s a lot of fear around (AI), and yet, I feel like the artists that are going to survive … are going to work with technology versus downplaying it,” said Allison Tugwell, founder of Punspoken, which hosts Byte Night.

What started out as a regular pun show expanded in February to become the first “Byte Night: A Pun Competition of Humans and ChatGPT.” In addition to an opening comedic musical act and a wordplay game to loosen up the audience, the show consists of a panel that judges individual punny stand-up acts against a Chat GPT “robotal” — read by a human in cyborg-esque attire. 

Stand-up comedian Terrence Yon said he didn’t feel threatened by the possibility of losing to a robot.

“I have seen people try and use ChatGPT for (writing) jokes, but I’ve not once seen a good joke come out of it,” Yon said.  

Music comedian Neil Dorsey, who, according to the event’s website, was nominated for the 2023 Austin Chronicle “Best New Comedy Act” award, said AI may harm artists but it’s up to them to adapt to the changing market. 

“AI is a lot of sizzle without a lot of steak,” Dorsey said. “Artists are just gonna pick it up, and it’ll be part of our tool set. The people who thrive, we’re always going to thrive, because they know how to handle this stuff as it changes.”

Lisa Sperry, a seasoned word-player and comedian, returned on Saturday after an initial loss to the robot at the first Byte Night in February. Despite having a somewhat antagonistic relationship with AI, she said due to its unavoidable presence, comedians should use it to enhance their lives and work. 

“Let’s really ‘Yes, and?’ this bad idea because that’s improv anyway,” Sperry said. “To just agree with the world and then build upon the world.”

Tugwell believes that technology can play a big role in human self-expression. Even though AI continues to advance, it still requires humans asking the right questions to generate the right output, she said. 

“I think (AI) has to be an opportunity,” Tugwell said. “It’s not going away, it’s only getting better. It’s up to us as creatives to use it to our advantage. AI makes a terrible master, but a great servant.”