ABTT Seminar: Automation – The Last Authentic Experience – June 2026

The Last Authentic Experience: Why theatre wins when everything is automated

This session addresses what AI means for our industry and for us as human beings. AI enables creative vision-holders to bypass skilled technical intermediaries, thereby threatening an entire middle layer of the creative workforce. Audiences are already shrinking under cost-of-living pressure, pushing theatres toward star-led, event-driven short runs with higher seat prices.. As AI floods screen media and potentially collapses the Hollywood blockbuster model, live performance becomes the last guaranteed space of authenticity. We consider what this will mean for ticket pricing, access, and future audiences.