We Will Rock You, have you heard of it? Twenty one years ago, this was a top British musical, featuring the music of rock group Queen. For many years as a young woman, as I went into London on a night out, I would alight at Tottenham Court Road station and see the Dominion Theatre all lit up for the musical.
The Return
Fast forward, twenty plus years to 2023. This year We Will Rock You, returned to London’s west end for a short stint at the London Coliseum. I was lucky enough to have a seat for this musical journey. Featuring a stellar cast, such as Ben Elton (writer of the show), Brenda Edwards and Lee Mead.
References to Technology
We Will Rock You appealed to me for its tech references and of course I am a fan of the music of Queen.
It started off taking the audience to the #iplanet and asking the audience to imagine a world long before Artificial Intelligence, Deep Fakes, Fake News and all the other trappings of this our fourth industrial revolution. It had grabbed my attention from the very first sentence.
In a world where everything is in the cloud and online and many people “want to look like someone else” how do we maintain originality. Of course through “Rock n Roll” and being a creator.
Memories came flooding back
The musical also brought back a memory for me from the first two years at university, when I was in the Drama group. In the first year, I played a ghost in a play, making ghostly sounds. By the second year, I realised this was not my calling and worked back stage instead. However, my love of theatre has never gone away, especially a good musical.
Activities to do with children
Parents, Teachers, educators, Nannies – anyone living with or working with children! How can you talk to your child about this musical and artificial intelligence, my recommendation is to interact with one of the free experiments available from tech giant Google, “The Freddie Metre”. This is an AI-powered singing challenge that rates how closely your singing matches the voice of Freddie Mercury. It is great fun for all the family.
Check it out here
You can also read about the AI model upon which the experiment is based and this is a great way of extending knowledge for anyone with an interest in tech and music.
Things to reflect upon
A few interesting points also came to light during the show, which are worth reflecting upon, in relation to some of the issues that we have in this tech age:
- Privacy issues
- The need to preserve artefacts, so that we have a physical form
- The need for individuality
I would also add, the cost of having a device to interact with “the cloud” and also to pay for WiFi and Internet connectivity. Essential if we are to all participate equally in society.
More resources to support you
- My trip to We Will Rock You was an afternoon well spent. Thank you to the cast and crew! I hope this blog inspires you to explore artificial intelligence and consider the impact of this technology that is changing the world.
- You can also enrol on my AI and Me course, available on Thinkific
- If you are an educator looking for material to teach you’re your students, then have a look at either of this course that I write for the K-12 curriculum
Get in touch with me today, if you would like to with me. I am open to amazing and exciting opportunities.