On the 25th of March, Exeter will welcome science comedian Lieven Scheire from Belgium in his standup comedy set about artificial intelligence (AI) at the Northcott Theatre. However, you may be wondering, who is Lieven Scheire? I had the pleasure to talk to Mr Scheire and ask him about his attitudes towards AI as well as learn more about him.
Who is Lieven Scheire?
Lieven Scheire is a physicist and self-invented comedian from Wachtebeke, Belgium. He first became popular in the early 2000s, solidifying his career as a ‘science communicator’ and, ultimately, breaking into the international scene around 2015. I found the combination of science and comedy to be particularly interesting, as seeing STEM and humanities subjects working together to enlighten humanity is not focused on nearly enough in my opinion.
I found the combination of science and comedy to be particularly interesting
“I always found science really interesting” and “physics was the easiest subject for me in school” claimed Mr Scheire after asking him to comment on whether he always knew that he wanted to be a scientist. However, he did also say that he was always “interested between physics and being a movie director” and that, after a conversation with an advising Belgian movie director, he decided that he should proceed with the physics route as it would allow him to become a director after, whereas if he decided to go into the film industry early on he would not be able to make the same switch.
When asked to comment on why he chose to go into the comedy performance industry, Mr Scheire declared that he was inspired by seeing standup comedy shows as a teenager, comedy television (TV) shows, and British TV. He also noted the significance of comedy being a newer industry in the early 2000s, suggesting that he was able to see the progression of the field as well as proactively, hypothetically speaking, grabbing the movement by its horns and leading it. He soon became a local celebrity and then later a national and international star.
He was inspired by seeing standup comedy shows as a teenager comedy television (TV) shows, and British TV.
Mr Lieven Scheire and AI
Since his upcoming show in Exeter is a part of his UK tour about AI, I asked him what spurred his interest in discussing AI in the first place. To this Mr Scheire replied that he has always been a “science follower,” so when he saw the rise of AI’s pattern recognition five years ago, he knew in his gut that this was going to be the “next big thing.” Due to his role as a science communicator, he knew that with the emergence of AI would come a lot of questions and concerns from the public, which further inspired him to take on the subject as a scientist and make the information around it accessible to the public in a funny, light-hearted manner.
I then proceeded to ask him some of the questions that are circulating about AI in the media, for example, whether he thinks AI could “take over the world” or whether it is something that we should fear as a society. Mr Scheire gave his opinions on these sensitive topics in a calm and explanatory manner, claiming that AI is “very far” from overtaking purely human tasks and that “AI is a software, it does not want to assert dominance, as dominance is a result of evolutionary development.” I personally found these explanations to be very helpful and soothing, as it is true that AI is merely a software and that it is only a result of an extensive programming language that has been written by another person. Mr Scheire finished these questions with a short comedic spin, commenting that “your computer is not angry when you turn it off,” which I found hilarious but also true, as it is only an object.
AI is a software, it does not want to assert dominance, as dominance is a result of evolutionary development.
Lieven Scheire
Overall, it was very inspiring to get a chance to talk to Dr Scheire about AI and his interest in it, as speaking to him taught me several facts that I did not know myself and also helped me understand the reasons behind him going into the comedy industry. Dr Scheire is a bright and entertaining individual who has an innate desire to enlighten the wider population about some of the biggest scientific inventions in a fun and light-hearted way, which is a quality that not many people possess. He is deeply looking forward to visiting Exeter in March and appealing to an audience of bright young minds who are known to be very invested in things like AI.
