Reflections from the Cast of The Third Voice: Eva Riekenbrauck on MoralPLai

The Third Voice, the artistic outcome of the MoralPLai Project, was presented on May 22, 2025, at the Amerikahaus in Munich. Mirjam Novak, Eva Riekenbrauck, Swaraj Oturkar, Stephanie Schulte, Ravi Rege and Joanna Semmelrogge were the six actors who brought the play vividly to life under the theatrical direction of Professor Kresny, with assistance from stage manager Emma Hoffmann.

As the MoralPLai team continues to explore the impact of The Third Voice, we invited the cast to share their experience through a short set of questions, touching on everything from the motivation that brought them into the project, to their evolving thoughts on AI, and the moments from the script that left a lasting impression.

Eva Riekenbrauck played Ella, the doctor’s estranged teenage daughter, in The Third Voice. Here is an inside look at her journey through the role, along with her reflections on the overall MoralPLai experience.

Enjoy the read!

1. What inspired you to join the MoralPlai project?

The opportunity to bring two worlds together: Science and theater. And even more than that, to explore the space where reality and theater start to interact. Additionally, I wanted to learn how to navigate AI myself, especially since I use AI and chatbots on a daily basis. And to be honest, Franziska’s passionate vision years ago got me enthusiastic and interested about the project in the first place.

2. How comfortable would you feel taking guidance from an AI chatbot on a personal issue?

Especially now, not comfortable anymore. Often, I take a lot of time to work through decisions. Recently, the thought came up to ask a chatbot for help, but then I remembered the play, and how it’s all just “echoes, spirals and loops”, so I didn’t, even though I know asking for a balanced perspective could help. Still, at the moment, I don’t feel comfortable asking it about something where it actually has to decide and doesn’t just give information.

3. Has this play influenced your perception of the role of AI in our daily lives, either positively or negatively? If so, in what ways?

I was aware that AI would take a bigger part in our lives day by day, but now I have become more concerned that people are starting to give it too much responsibility and emotional value without supervision and in the wrong ways. Especially when the application is not ready for that yet. The technology is advancing at an incredible speed, but I have come to realize that the ethical side needs to catch up, and I feel like its importance and influence are underestimated. On top of that, I noticed that in the past, I mostly unintentionally “tricked” AI by asking it about technical topics from a one-sided perspective, and it simply gave me what I wanted to hear. And I think many people trick it without even realizing it. So even if we are theoretically still the ones who have more control, we have to be careful that it doesn’t end up controlling us.

4. If you had to choose just one sentence from the script to keep, which one would it be, and why does it stand out to you?

“But you’re not real.” I know it’s simple, but with all the AI‘s friendliness, knowledge and ability to really talk to it, we have to keep reminding ourselves of that.

5. What final thought would you like people to take away from this experience?

We have to catch up with the awareness of how to deal with the status quo of AI and the ethical “correct” development, and not just focus on the technological development. And finally, I am amazed how much more and how differently you can reach people by other ways of publishing, especially research-based theater.

Interested to learn more? Visit the MoralPLai Project webpage and stay tuned for updates.