Introducing MoralPLai: A Research-Based Theatre to Promote AI Literacy

Generative AI, especially chatbots powered by large language models (LLMs), enables individuals to increasingly rely on automation to support their decisions by answering questions, offering information or even providing concrete moral advice. How will the use of LLM-based chatbots impede or support humans’ ethical decision-making? What system requirements are crucial for their responsible development and use? And how can research-based theatre effectively engage a broader audience in the inquiry of this investigation? To answer these questions, the MoralPLai Project implements a creative approach to conducting, educating, and communicating AI ethics research through the lens of the arts. The core idea revolves around carrying out qualitative interviews and user studies related to LLMs and moral guidance, then transforming the insights gathered into a theatre performance that will be showcased at the Amerikahaus in Munich on May 22, 2025. This performance aims to enhance AI literacy, inform the public about the latest research in an engaging way and facilitate joint discussions to promote responsible development and use of LLM-based chatbots as moral dialogue partners.

In this workshop, an overview of the MoralPLai Project will be provided, along with an introduction to its preliminary results. These findings will be discussed, best practices will be shared and key ideas, themes and emotions will be explored through methods such as Image Theatre.

Visit the MoralPLai Project webpage to learn more.

Dr. Franziska Poszler is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Ethics in Artificial Intelligence at the Technical University of Munich, Germany. Her research concentrates on machine ethics, value-sensitive design, moral psychology and creative science communication, with a particular focus on exploring the reciprocal relationship between AI systems and human morality. On the one hand, she investigates how developers can shape the decision-making logic of AI systems (e.g., self-driving cars) to incorporate fairness considerations. On the other hand, she studies how AI systems (especially, LLM-based chatbots) influence the ethical decision-making of humans. Currently, she is leading the research project MoralPLai, in which a research-based theatre play on the topic of AI ethics is developed.