Writers Beyond Robots: Classic Sci-Fi Meets Modern Tech
Writers Beyond Robots: Writing in the Age of AI and Virtual Reality
What defines meaningful human communication in an age of AI? Is it agency over automation, empathy over disconnection? Now, we have artificial intelligence prompting people how to write to reach certain audiences. AI can compose poetry and art, make music, and paint pictures. With all this in mind, there’s still no substitute for the ingenuity and wit of a human writer, and for the craft involved in creating thoughtful text for new media forms, including virtual reality.
What defines us is what sets us apart from the machines – even as we build them? It’s these traits that will become increasingly important for writers as we embrace new technologies and ways of approaching everything from problem-solving to creative expression.
This workshop looks back at the legacy of sci-fi classics that anticipate the dawn of this age of “Robot-Meets-Human,” and focuses on ways to approach the future of creative writing in new media. In the Age of AI, what makes us human becomes all the more essential, critical to our communication, creativity and true consequence.
We’ll blend in new immersive media story design and mindfulness in this hyper-real session that steps through the looking glass into wonderlands and dreamscapes. The discussions and inclusion of classic texts in the sci-fi genre animate engaging writing sessions, and many new forms of written media are incorporated into this course.
– Week 1: Survey of Sci-Fi Legacy
– Week 2: UX Design & Empathy Engines
– Week 3: Digital Media & Visual Storytelling
– Week 4: Immersive Story Design: Visceral Cues, Identity & Agency
– Week 5: Writing for VR & AR
April 13-May 11 | Mondays | 6-8:00pm PDT (GMT -7) | Online
April 14-May 12 | Tuesdays | 8-9:30am CET | Online
SIGN UPHourly Schedule
Tuesday
- 8 - 9:30
- CET Time
- Section 2
- -
Date
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Instructor
Caitlin Krause
Website
https://www.mindwise.proCaitlin Krause is a learning expert, author, writer and keynote speaker. In her 2019 book Mindful by Design and through her organizational consulting, she helps individuals and groups leverage mindfulness, storytelling, and design principles to connect more deeply with their audiences and communities. Caitlin’s publications include Mindful by Design (2019), From Beginning to End (2012), and a book of poetry-photography The Book of Electric Cattle Prods (2007). Her work has appeared in Forbes, HIGGS, EdSurge, Tech&Learning, Woven Tale Press, The Woolf Quarterly, The Aurorean, Avocet, Her Mark, and Solstice magazine. As founder of the MindWise consultancy, co-founder of the Center of Wise Leadership, and a virtual reality and AI specialist, Caitlin contributes to building products and experiences that promote humanity, innovation and emotional intelligence. She speaks extensively in Europe and North America, delivering keynotes and leading professional development and learning workshops. Complementing her work with mindfulness and social and emotional learning (SEL), she coaches about effective use of virtual reality, augmented reality, and immersive storytelling to boost innovation, creativity and wellbeing. Mentoring the 2020 MIT Reality Hack, Caitlin reinforced principles of UX, story, design and empathy as core components of a meaningful XR experience. She works as a scriptwriter and VR/AR story designer in digital therapeutics with a focus on mental health VR, using mindfulness, guided imagery, HCD, biofeedback, BA and CBT. Caitlin's book Mindful by Design debuted at the World Economic Forum, where she spoke about the future of education, sci-fi and immersive technology. Through her leadership and organizational consulting, she helps individuals and teams create connection in the midst of complexity and change. She recently created a mindfulness and SEL series in social VR, fusing presence, storytelling, curiosity and emotional intelligence. Caitlin has more than a decade of experience as a full-time educator, and serves as an interdisciplinary curriculum designer, promoting mindful leadership models throughout organizations. She holds a BA from Duke University and an MFA from Lesley University, and believes in embracing creative constraints, living a life filled with moments of wonder, and connecting with passion, purpose and presence.