Ghostwriters: A Playwriting Experiment

University of Central Arkansas. October, 2025

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Lead Researcher, Prompter -  Austin Aschbrenner

Playwright - Jesús Rivera

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This is an experiment I am finishing up a write-up on with my friend and colleague Jesús Rivera. The idea was to have a playwright write 5 pieces based on prompts, then feed those prompts and the pieces back to AI to produce 5 more. These 10 pieces were performed reader's theatre styles to a live audience who voted live on which pieces they believed were AI. The results of the voting and the answers to the writer were revealed after the performance was complete. The IRB was granted with the idea that this experiment is repeated to gather additional data on the audience response. I aim to publish the results upon completion of the write-up. Also due to the IRB I was not able to take any pictures or record any information as the actors were also not aware of the origin of the pieces so they doubled as participants.