Jonny Sun: The Laughing Room and The Control Room

ARTificial Intelligence, a collaborative project between MIT, Harvard, and the Cambridge Public Library developed by Stephanie Frampton, associate professor of literature at MIT, presents an installation of MIT PhD candidate Jonny Sun’s interactive multimedia piece, The Laughing Room, at the Cambridge Public Library, and a companion piece, The Control Room, at the Hayden Library.

The Laughing Room resembles a TV sitcom set, and invites visitors to perform by saying something funny. A series of microphones and speakers hidden throughout the installation are connected to a machine learning algorithm that was created with a dataset of audio recordings of stand-up comedians. If the algorithm deems anything said by the participants funny, it will trigger a laugh track. 

The Control Room features several screens showing different views of The Laughing Room, including real-time streaming video and audio of the exhibit itself, as well as live-streams from social media feeds such as Periscope/Twitter, Instagram Live, Facebook Live, and Twitch Live.

Each exhibit invites participants to ask questions about artificial intelligence and the role it can play in our society.

The Laughing Room 
Cambridge Public Library, Main Branch
Friday, November 16, 2–5pm
Saturday, November 17, 9am–5pm
Sunday, November 18, 1–3pm

The Control Room
Hayden Library (14S-100)
Open during regular library hours. During times when the Cambridge Public Library is closed, The Control Room will feature previously recorded videos (reruns) of The Laughing Room performances. 

Shuttle buses will run between the Cambridge Public Library and Hayden Library on Saturday, November 17, 12–3pm

Related events

• Opening Reception
  Cambridge Public Library
  Friday, November 16, 4-5pm 
   
• Artists' "Talk Back" with Jonny Sun and Friends
  Hayden Library
  Saturday, November 17, 3-4pm