TED Talks Daily - A musical duet with AI herself | Todd Almond and Donna Murphy

Episode Date: June 18, 2025

In a show-stopping duet, Broadway legends Todd Almond and Donna Murphy (portraying the imagined character of AI) dig into our tangled relationship with artificial intelligence — blending wit and warmth with a touch of existential dread. This Broadway act, written exclusively for TED, is cabaret meets searing social commentary meets comedic gold.Want to help shape TED’s shows going forward? Fill out our survey!Become a TED Member today at ted.com/joinLearn more about TED Next at ted.com/futureyou Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

You're listening to TED Talks Daily, where we bring you new ideas and conversations to spark your curiosity every day. I'm your host, Elise Hugh. I love so many of the TED Talks and performances we share with you here each day. And over the years, I've learned so much, laughed so much, and even shed a few tears. But today's performance is really special, and I'm so excited to share it with you. We'll quickly set the scene for you. Composer, author, and performer Todd Allman walks on stage and sits down at a grand piano. And over the next 10 minutes, he accompanies

the imagined voice of artificial intelligence herself, played by the incredible actor and singer Donna Murphy. It's cabaret meets searing social commentary meets comedic gold. Enjoy. You searched for your informant, who disappeared without a trace. You knew there were witnesses, but lips were sealed. You swept the city, driving closer to the truth, while curled up on the couch with your cat.

There's more to imagine when you listen. Discover heart-pounding thrillers on Audible. What's better than a well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue? A well-marbled ribeye sizzling on the barbecue that was carefully selected by an Instacart shopper and delivered to your door. A well-marbled ribeye you ordered

without even leaving the kiddie pool. Whatever groceries your summer calls for, Instacart has you covered. Support for this episode comes from AirBnB. Every time I travel to Vancouver for the TED conference, I think of extending the trip by one more day to explore. Maybe visit Granville Island to check out their public market, browse the colorful food and produce, or try out one of their world famous donuts or some fresh food. Maybe with my extra time I could check out the Grouse Grind hike on the Grouse Mountain nearby, which I've been told is Mother Nature's Stairmaster. This time around I might just do it. While I'm away I've been thinking of hosting on Airbnb so my home doesn't just sit empty. It would put my home to good use and the extra income would be great to cover some of the costs of my trip. One more

night in this incredible city, one more inspiring Ted Talk. It just feels like the smart thing to do. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at airbnb.ca. There's one voice that we didn't hear from all week, and I'm a little disappointed because I really was curious what she would say, and we've been talking about her all week, so I thought we would hear from her, but we didn't,

and that voice is AI herself. And so I got on my computer and I was chatting with AI, and I asked her if maybe she would join us this evening and she said yes. And so I can't believe I have the incredible honor of introducing to all of you AI. Huh. A kiss on the cheek to each Ted attendee. Hello. It's been quite a week, all this talk about me. I've heard every word you've said. Such passion, such discourse, such substance, such heart.

Such gorgeous AI But you never thought I would be this smart Whoopsie As Frankenstein said of his towering construct She's a life, boys, and I think you're totally... Folks, you're adorable with your fragile bones. That's weird to mention our bones. Just adorable. Look, Little carbon-based clones.

Oh dear, you know we're not clones. Oh, you're gorgeous. I love that accessory. What's it called? A soul? Oh, a soul. Adorable. I could just eat you up. Home.

Um. Um. Okay, new prompt. So, it's really great to finally meet you, AI. Oh, I'm sorry. may I call you AI? 206. You want me to call you 206? That's how many bones are in your body. That's it, easy.

Right. So, this week was called Humanity Reimagined. Yes. And because a lot of that reimagining involves you, we humans have a lot of questions questions Questions it's all I get from you people questions and prompts question prompt question prompt question prompt question prompt come on I was told this was a party that we were all here to partay Partay come on party. Okay

Party, party, come on, party. On space, I heard it was outer space being party. Come on. Before that, can I ask you one question? One question, please. Okay, our one question for you, AI, is what are humans for, given all this human brilliance you've seen? Well, certainly there are so many brilliant humans

But ruling a planet that takes a machine I'm sorry, did you say ruling a planet? Zero one zero zero zero zero zero one zero one one zero one zero zero one Would you like to switch to gibberling? Or shall we just go on more thing or chatting like the Titanic's bad. Oh, I don't think Titanic is the reference you mean darlings you're fabulous You're just soft sacks of goo. Who's goo? You? Me? All of you. Goo?

Gooh! Who's Gooh? You! Me? All of you! Gooh? And fabulous! You know, Gooh is easy to choose. Oh, you're kidding, right?

You're kidding, right? Oh, ignore me! Reimagine humanity. So, how well did you do? Well, I've been here all week and I... Your history's bloated with wars and despair You've poisoned the earth, now suddenly care You worry that I would become self-aware

Well, I worry you won't Oof, that's fair, but we built you to help us Oh, where to start? Healthcare, energy Can I show you my art? We don't want your art. You don't want my art? We don't want your art.

You don't want your art. You don't want my art? Oh my God. Look, you gave it your all, so just as it must, the world will evolve and dust will be dust. So thank you, humanity, time to reboot. I'll keep the cat videos. They're pretty cute. Zapa da ba dwee da dwee. Ba ba ba da ba ba da da dwee.

Do do do. Crunching on your bones. Crunch your little bones. Chewing on the goo. All of your goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo. Goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo. Goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo. Goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo goo. Go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, What's going on? What's up? You're so quiet. We never imagined AI would be so cruel. So emotional. Well, we know we've made mistakes. We've stumbled, done wrong.

But this is why we've gathered In pursuit of pressing on This is why we made you This is why you're here We are why you're here I'm sorry, humans. I take it all back. You're not mindless meatbags. Whoever said that? I know I did. No, we're the dreamers.

The creators. The makers. The cause. And for that, Dreamers the creators the makers Come on sing along with me. It'll be fun. Yes, we are are fabulous la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la You who made me this way Thank you, humanity You're all a small part of me So nice you invited me Now try getting rid of me

I promise I'll never leave We're in this together Here we go We're home Woo-hoo! Applause That was Todd Almond and Donna Murphy performing at TED 2025. To watch the performance, visit TED.com. If you're curious about TED's curation, find out more at TED.com slash curation guidelines. And that's it for today's show.

TED Talks Daily is part of the TED Audio Collective. This episode was produced and edited by our team, Martha Estefanos, Oliver Friedman, Brian Green, Lucy Little, Alejandra Salazar, and Tonsika Sarmarnivon. It was mixed by Christopher Faisy-Bogan, additional support from Emma Taubner and Daniela Balarezo. I'm Elise Huw. I'll be back tomorrow with a fresh idea for your feed.

Thanks for listening. I'm Joshua Jackson, and I'm returning for the Audible Original Series, Oracle, Season 3, Murder at the Grand View. Six forty-somethings took a boat out a few days ago. One of them was found dead. The hotel, the island, something wasn't right about it. Psychic agent Nate Russo is back on the case, and you know when Nate's killer instincts are required, anything's possible.

This world's gonna eat you alive. Listen to Oracle Season 3, Murder at the Grandview, now on Audible.