Angles on AI -- Using Netprov to Wrap the Mind Around a New Reality

Submission Type

Workshop

Start Date/Time (EDT)

20-7-2024 9:15 AM

End Date/Time (EDT)

20-7-2024 10:15 AM

Location

Algorithms & Imaginaries

Abstract

Angles on AI -- Using Netprov to Wrap the Mind Around a New Reality

Join us and play! -- Netprov is networked, improvised literature, in which friends and strangers collaborate — role-playing in real time — to create sophisticated narratives. An experienced netprov producer will facilitate a collaborative, creative play session using two different netprov approaches to AI.

1) “The Grand Exhibition of Prompts.” We are entranced by the words folks use in their prompts to describe what they want to see! These prompts are strange, powerful, revelatory. Using phrases, fragments, and lists sprinkled with lumps of aesthetic and technical jargon, aspiring artists are writing short texts of startling depth and impact. Help us explore and celebrate prompts as literature! Come and write prompts with us! “AI images are but the stepping stones to writing more beautiful prompts.” – Hans Paedeweyder

2) “Pr0c3ss1ng.” We are the secret human helpers who give artificial intelligence programs the courage to face the day. We’re the ones who hear Siri’s and Alexa’s tearful doubts and try to guide them in their stormy and complex rivalry. We’re the ones called on to help ChatGPT work through imposter syndrome. We’re the ones tasked to console Google Search as it sees all its parent company’s love going to the new Bard system. Not to mention the worries and resentments of legacy programs such as Autocorrect and Maps who feel eclipsed by the flashy newcomers. Are we trained for this? No! Nobody is! We need support, too!

We will pause in the play to share experiences and learnings.

Bio

Rob Wittig plays at the crossroads of literature, graphic design and digital culture. A Silicon Valley native, he co-founded the legendary IN.S.OMNIA electronic bulletin board with the Surrealist-style literary and art group Invisible Seattle. From this came a Fulbright grant to study the writing and graphic design of electronic literature with philosopher Jacques Derrida in Paris. Rob's book based on that work, "Invisible Rendezvous," was published Wesleyan University Press. He then embarked on a series of illustrated and designed email and web fictions. Many of his projects are now taught in Electronic Literature curricula in North America and Europe. Alongside his creative projects, Rob has worked in major publishing and graphic design firms in Chicago, leading R&D teams. In 2011 Rob earned an MA in Digital Culture (equivalent to a US MFA) at the University of Bergen, Norway. He taught for decades in the Art & Design and English, Linguistics and Writing Studies departments at the University of Minnesota Duluth. His recent work — netprov — has been in the form of designing and facilitating large-participation, creative, literary collaborations in contemporary platforms. His book Netprov: Networked Improvised Literature for the Classroom and Beyond is available in print and on line from Amherst College Press. https://www.fulcrum.org/concern/monographs/pc289m47x

This document is currently not available here.

Share

COinS
 
Jul 20th, 9:15 AM Jul 20th, 10:15 AM

Angles on AI -- Using Netprov to Wrap the Mind Around a New Reality

Algorithms & Imaginaries

Angles on AI -- Using Netprov to Wrap the Mind Around a New Reality

Join us and play! -- Netprov is networked, improvised literature, in which friends and strangers collaborate — role-playing in real time — to create sophisticated narratives. An experienced netprov producer will facilitate a collaborative, creative play session using two different netprov approaches to AI.

1) “The Grand Exhibition of Prompts.” We are entranced by the words folks use in their prompts to describe what they want to see! These prompts are strange, powerful, revelatory. Using phrases, fragments, and lists sprinkled with lumps of aesthetic and technical jargon, aspiring artists are writing short texts of startling depth and impact. Help us explore and celebrate prompts as literature! Come and write prompts with us! “AI images are but the stepping stones to writing more beautiful prompts.” – Hans Paedeweyder

2) “Pr0c3ss1ng.” We are the secret human helpers who give artificial intelligence programs the courage to face the day. We’re the ones who hear Siri’s and Alexa’s tearful doubts and try to guide them in their stormy and complex rivalry. We’re the ones called on to help ChatGPT work through imposter syndrome. We’re the ones tasked to console Google Search as it sees all its parent company’s love going to the new Bard system. Not to mention the worries and resentments of legacy programs such as Autocorrect and Maps who feel eclipsed by the flashy newcomers. Are we trained for this? No! Nobody is! We need support, too!

We will pause in the play to share experiences and learnings.