Maariya Khalid’s ‘Sick Dog’, directed by Billie Switonski interrogates the increasing concern over AI in today’s society with nuance and sensitivity. The play follows the story of Winnie, a miserable and dying young woman, and her ‘top-model AI companion-carer’, Eliza, who looks after her, and asks us if AI can simulate a real human connection, and where the boundary between humans and technology lies when it is more and more difficult to distinguish them. Throughout the play, we see Eliza begin to express feelings for the resentful and pessimistic Winnie, and over the next hour, Winnie’s walls begin to break down for Eliza in a way that cannot fail to pull on your heartstrings.

Khalid’s use of ChatGPT to collaborate on her writing can only be described as genius. It is seamlessly intertwined with her own words in a way that is simultaneously difficult and obvious to detect and portrays Eliza (played excellently by Pearl D’souza) as disturbingly accurate, spewing real facts and pop culture references that are familiar, funny and alarming for us an audience. I must commend D’souza for her uncanny depiction of the AI companion, her robotic, practically simulated voice and mechanical, fragmentary physicality and movement do not falter once throughout the performance. Her performance has incredible detail down to her ways of sitting and her rapid side-to-side eye movements for when she is ‘processing’. This contrasts incredibly with Cara Crofts’ portrayal of Winnie, who comes across as much more laid back, witty, charming and, well, human in her physicality and voice in a way that is genuinely real and relatable for young women of her generation; she has a refreshing stage presence in both light-hearted and reflective moments. The actresses compliment each other wonderfully in their chemistry and timing, providing a combination of hilarious and touching moments, thanks to the careful direction of Switonski, who uses staging, timing and proxemics to keep the performance captivating and dynamic throughout. Switonski’s vision is evident throughout, and she deserves much praise for her detailed and engaging direction.

Production Manager Gemma Parker deserves much praise for her contribution to this show, especially as the only technician involved. The static set of the messy flat works perfectly with the play, with excellent detail in every aspect, such as the messy kitchen scattered with cooking supplies and the small but cosy bedroom area. This really encapsulates Winnie’s state of mind. The venue of the City Theatre compliments Khalid and Switonski’s vision, allowing for an intimate setting which draws us directly into the performance and speaks to us in a personal and communal way. Parker crafts harmonious transitions of lighting which do not govern the performance but carefully highlight the mood and moment where appropriate in a beautiful colour palette.

All these elements come together excellently to discuss the complex ways in which AI interacts with our lives today and the relationships we have or could have with AI in the future. Particularly interesting were ideas of love, friendship, religion, humour and violence. The play asks us about the ethics of AI slavery as Winnie demands Eliza to do her washing up and fluctuates on wanting her dinner cooked for her, and we start to question if this is moral, especially as their relationship seems to transcend that of an owner and robot/companion to a point of friendship (or more). Moreover, a recurring question of the play is whether AI can comprehend or understand human emotion, something which is brutally exposed in Eliza’s insensitive attempts at humour and inability to identify when Winnie is joking or being serious. Eliza also struggles to sympathise directly with Winnie while simultaneously caring for her deeply, and the boundary between programming and real feeling is blurred to the point where the two could easily be two humans in the way they connect with each other heart-warmingly and wittily. However, these moments are sharply torn from us when we are reminded of Eliza’s robotic nature with lines such as ‘my battery is low’ or when she reels off a rehearsed Wiki tutorial on dealing with a nosebleed. Eliza seems closely and dotingly attuned to Winnie’s character and behaviour, but is this only because she has everything she has ever done or said ‘stored in her drive’? This complicated dynamic is highlighted further in discussions about God, where Eliza claims ‘I was made for you’, yet, where does divinity and fate come into play when she was literally made for her to serve her needs and requirements and could be replicated or turned off accordingly? Khalid’s writing is thus difficult to fault, being reflective, funny, thought-provoking and at times lyrical. If anything, the play would benefit from more time to delve further into the issues it opens up, to become an even more nuanced and detailed exploration of human and AI interaction.

The title ‘Sick Dog’ is cleverly chosen, and by the end of the play a huge, open question is who is the ‘sick dog’? Much of this comes to light in a nuanced conversation between Winnie and Eliza where Winnie compares her lifespan to a dog (and she is the ‘sick’ one after all), yet one of the most poignant moments of the play comes with the description of Fido the dog and Eliza’s declaration that she would wait for Winnie even after she is gone. Their connection therefore appears to at least simulate a human or animal connection; it is alive even if Eliza technically is not. They are unfalteringly connected, and the play leaves us in a quiet, reflective moment which leaves their future ambiguous.

Khalid’s ‘Sick Dog’, brought to the stage by Switonski, is ultimately an excellently produced, incredibly performed, and attentively written exploration of AI. This exploration is increasingly relevant as AI slowly starts to emerge in all aspects of our lives. The question is, how far will it go?