Artificial relationships – in literature as in life?

MindJam, Sunday October 25, 11 am - noon, Prof David Ciccoricco

Long the topic of speculative fiction and fantasy, friendship with an AI chatbot is now a reality. Some use AI to commune with the dead, others consult it for answers to life’s big problems. For others, it offers a genuine antidote to loneliness. Yet how do we frame and build relationships with the artificially intelligent?

University of Otago's Professor David Ciccoricco says fiction offers models, from Isaac Asimov’s robots and Philip K. Dick’s androids in classic sci-fi, to contemporary takes on AI by Kazuo Ishiguro and Jeanette Winterson.

In this MindJam session we ask how might literary narratives – including classical myths, like Ovid’s Metamorphoses – help explain the imaginative and often intimate interactions arising from the new phenomenon of AI companions? And how do these narratives reflect and absorb our collective anxieties and desires?

Join us for a discussion of literature and AI intimacies, featuring Pygmalion, Narcissus, and ChatGPT.

David is Professor of English at Otago University. His research draws on cognitive science and philosophy of mind to establish how fictional minds help explain actual ones. His book Refiguring Minds in Narrative Media (2015) explores cognitive approaches to narratives in print novels, digital fictions, and story-driven video games and he's a co-creator of BabyHex, a digital narrative masquerading as a language-learning simulator embodied in an AI baby.

This event is part of MindJam, a celebration of thinking presented by Catalyst Trust and Otago University's Humanities Division, in Arrowtown this coming Labour Weekend.

Discussions will range from how to build a better world to the ‘new’ feminism, ‘teachnology’, AI relationships in literature and life, and the global context of NZ's general election. Check the schedule on our Catalyst Trust Humanitix page and come join us for some MindJam magic.

MINDJAM, Friday Oct 23, 6:30 pm; Saturday 24th, 11am and 1 pm; Sunday 25th 11am and 1pm. At Lakes District Museum, Arrowtown.

See Catalyst Trust's Humanitix page for the full event schedule. Attendance is free, with koha going to Lakes District Museum's education programme.

PLEASE GET YOUR TICKETS FOR THIS SESSION ONLY ON THIS HUMANITIX PAGE.

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