AI Narrative: A History (BrainStorm Examples)

When applying AI narrative in a project, it seems important to first look at the narrative of AI narrative. That is to say, the historical context through which AI Narrative is viewed as this could inform how it is used in practical terms.

What is AI? Where did it originate? Has the description evolved ? How is AI used to form narrative in media ? How is it used to form the media through narrative ?

I’m going to look at this pretty broadly and identify some examples that seem important to me (which are by no means exhaustive.. and may even seem off topic).

Automata

https://www.stolenhistory.org/threads/the-draughtsman-writer-automaton-by-henri-maillardet.317/


Animation 

In Absentia ©️ Brothers Quay
Automatic Writing ©️William Kentridge 



Wall-e ©️ Disney 


Film 



Short Circuit ©️ TriStar Pictures (1986) 



Uncanny Valley 


Polar Express ©️ Warner Bros Pictures 

Cyborg


A Cyborg Manifesto ©️ Donna Harraway 
Full Text Available Here 

https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/fictionnownarrativemediaandtheoryinthe21stcentury/manifestly_haraway_—-_a_cyborg_manifesto_science_technology_and_socialist-feminism_in_the_….pdf

And the following article in Medium. 

https://medium.com/predict/design-manifesto-goodbye-human-hello-alien-f9d607b65e00



The Turin Test 

https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/turing-test/

Cybernetic (Systems Control)





Cybernetics or Communication and Control in Animals & The Machine ©️ Norbert Weiner 

Full copy of the original Text is available here https://archive.org/details/CyberneticsOrCommunicationAndControlInTheAnimalAndTheMachineNorbertWiener/page/n5/mode/2up


2nd Order Cybernetics  



Quantum Mechanics : Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle, two slits experiments and the Wave/Particle Collapse. 

©️The information Philosopher 





The Double Bind ©️ Gregory Bateson 
(Narrative Designers should never place a player in a double bind!)



Policing 






The Sage Handbook of Global Policing 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2ICJDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA410&lpg=PA410&dq=cybernetics+and+policing&source=bl&ots=cfBQq000ue&sig=ACfU3U0jtKxguDtQuWm0gE490PswqF2yxQ&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwio9qv5ptbpAhV8SBUIHUVJAjUQ6AEwCnoECAoQAQ#v=onepage&q=cybernetics%20and%20policing&f=false


Covid – 19 Societal Control – Policing by Consent. 


Films 

In the same way that typing google into a google breaks the internet (Joke) typing Netflix AI into google to search all films representing AI on Netflix leads to Netflix use of AI (well it amused me..)

I recently watched 2036 Origin Unknown which took a poignant look at humanity and AI.

And it reminded me of HAL 9000.

2001: A Space Odyssey ©️ Stanley Kubrick 

Games 

IBM Deep Blue Chess Game (1997) 
©️ Stan Honda/AFP/Getty Images
(For Academic Purposes Only) 





Alpha Zero ©️ Google Deep Mind 
A.I assisted narrative 




The Standard News Article 
https://www.standard.co.uk/tech/bulletproof-ai-game-charismaai-guy-gadney-interview-a4406041.html

Some of these examples are pretty negative and it’s not my intention to cast a negative light on AI, I’m just trying to understand the narrative that surrounds AI and try to understand it better. 

References (TBC) 

http://lcfi.ac.uk/media/uploads/files/AI_Narratives_Report.pdf