DigitasLBi to Host Robot Comedian at Cannes Lions Innovation Session

DigitasLBi is set to host a session featuring robot comedian Ginger the Robot at this year’s Cannes Lions Innovation.

We rely on data for all kinds of things nowadays. It determines what news we consume, quantifies our friendships, helps us navigate from A to B and even informs our love life. But can data be used to help us master one of the most mysterious – and quintessentially human – skills of them all: making people laugh? And what are the implications of that for brands and agencies? 

At this year’s Cannes Lions Innovation, DigitasLBi’s Chief Creative Officer, International, Chris Clarke will invite roboticist Dr. Heather Knight and her sidekick Ginger the Robot on stage to explore the role of data in comedy, and to reveal how brands can use data to create entertaining and engaging content.

The session entitled Can Data Make You Funnier? will be part of the Lions Innovation programme which examines how data and technology can act as catalysts and enablers for creativity. It will take place on the Inspiration Stage on Tuesday 20th June at 2pm. 

Dr Heather Knight is a post-doc at Stanford University and adjunct computer science professor at Oregon State University. She also runs Marilyn Monrobot, a robot theatre company featuring comedy performances by Data the Robot, and an annual Robot Film Festival. Her research interests include human-robot interaction, non-verbal machine communications and non-anthropomorphic social robots. Ginger the Robot is a professional robot actor and comedian who has performed across the USA and Europe. 

Chris Clarke, DigitasLBi’s Chief Creative Officer, International, comments: "As we run headlong into an AI future, it’s important to ask questions of the technology and plan for the world we want so we don’t end up with something we didn’t ask for. Heather’s work, bringing warmth and emotion to technology has helped us unlock, if not the answers, then certainly some of the questions to ask.”

For more information on the session, visit the Cannes Lions website.