The full title of “The Antiquities” currently running at Playwrights Horizons is “A Tour of the Permanent Collection in the Museum of the Late Human Antiquities.” The title contains two important pairs of words: “Permanent Collection” and “Late Human.” The play begins at some point in the far distant future with two museum docents W1 (Aria Shahghasemi) and W2 (Amelia Workman) addressing the audience (now museum patrons in the future time) about the exhibit they are about to visit. W1 and W2 are inorganics whose invention/creation was made possible by the now-extinct organics (humans).

“The Antiquities” playwright’s proposition that humankind would ultimately be responsible for its own extinction is not uncommon. Sacred texts, philosophers, and science fiction writers have advanced and developed the concept since perhaps the dawn of time. The possibility of the self-destruction of humankind is intrinsic in Judeo-Christian and other creation stories. Philosophers like Jacques Ellul suggest that whatever humankind has “invented” over time has always been used for destructive purposes. And Stanley Kubrick’s 1968 epic science fiction film “2001: A Space Odyssey” presciently introduces HAL (Add one letter to each (H, A, L) and it becomes IBM!) the AI “being” the Artificial Intelligence that takes control of the spacecraft’s commander and it mission.

What sets apart “The Antiquities” from these exploration into humanity’s self-destruction is that Artificial Intelligence like HAL is no longer fiction. AI is reality. Ayad Akhtar explored the role of AI in contemporary life in his recent “McNeal” starring Robert Downey, Jr. whose character commits suicide after using AI in his writing career. That, too, is real. “The Antiquities” goes further by positing that not just one person is victimized and is extinguished but all of humanity is victimized and extinguished.

The “exhibits” in this museum are not paintings, lithographs, books, triptychs, or dioramas. This permanent collection is a series of moving images (however those might be created in 2240) that begin with Mary Shelley and her circle in 1816, where she tells the story of Victor Frankenstein and his creation, foreshadowing the themes of technological advancement and its consequences. The tour’s twenty exhibits continue through the year 2240. In this final exhibit, a Young Man and a Woman contemplate “saving the human race” by having a child. Despite the Young Man’s zeal, the woman reminds him that, “This is the end. Don’t you know that? Nothing’s gonna change that. We had our time. Stomped across the world like it was ours. Now it’s theirs. And soon we’ll be gone.”

Some exhibits are more compelling than others. Some exhibits support the theme better than others. Under the co-direction of David Cromer and Caitlin Sullivan, the members of the cast portray all the characters in the exhibits with a sense of authenticity and believability. Revisiting the exhibits in reverse order does not add much to the action of the play.

Paul Steinberg’s scenic design, Brenda Abbandandolo’s costume design, Tyler Micoleau’s lighting design, and Christopher Darbassie’s sound designer) add to the project’s stark and dystopian mood.

With the reality of the current dismantling of the American government and the Constitution, it seems more believable that humankind could be on the way to some catastrophic event if not its demise.