Graphic showing human and robot hand meeting at a computer screen, touching fingers

Thoughts on Bots: Composition and Creative Pedagogy in the Age of AI

Conference Dates:
October 26 - 27, 2023

Proposal Submission Deadline:
May 20, 2023, 11:59 p.m.

Hosted by Stevens Institute of Technology's College of Arts & Letters, the Thoughts on Bots: Composition and Creative Pedagogy in the Age of AI conference will explore the changing landscape of writing pedagogy in the age of AI chatbot programs. 

Lauren M. E. Goodlad of Rutgers University, who was just announced as the conference’s plenary speaker, will present her lecture, “The Lifecycle of Writing Subjects: An Interdisciplinary Approach.”

Organizers are now seeking proposals for this multidisciplinary event, to be held in Hoboken, NJ. Respondents may submit proposals for a 20-minute formal presentation, participation in a roundtable discussion, or facilitation of a hands-on workshop. Topics may include: 

  • Technical aspects of how generative AI programs work and their likely future developments and applications;  

  • Practical and pedagogical implications of generative AI programs in the writing-centric classroom, including issues of cognition, academic integrity, research, and information literacy;  

  • Practical/pedagogical implications of generative AI programs in the creative classroom, including art, design, and music; 

  • Philosophical and ethical questions raised by generative AI in any discipline, including but not limited to the relationship between AI and mentality, authorship, ownership, aesthetics, and inclusivity. 

Please use the form linked here to submit a brief bio or CV and a maximum 250-word abstract below by May 20, 2023, at 11:59 p.m.

Plenary Speaker: Lauren M. E. Goodlad of Rutgers University

Lauren M.E. Goodlad is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Rutgers University, the chair of Critical AI @ Rutgers, and the editor of Critical AI, a new journal published by Duke University Press. In her lecture "The Lifecycle of Writing Subjects: An Interdisciplinary Approach," Goodlad explores so-called generative AI with an emphasis on the socio-technical and politico-economic specificities of the large language models (LLMs) that subtend it.