Workshop / Radio Play: Live Participatory Worldbuilding with GPT-3

Inscriptions open: https://kenes.eventsair.com/isea2022/workshop1

• Abstract: With recent advancements in machine learning techniques, researchers have demonstrated remarkable achievements in text synthesis, understanding, and generation. This hands-on workshop introduces a state-of-the-art transformer model (GPT-3) through an interactive event culminating in a live radio show and internet transmission. Participants will gain experience with Open AI’s GPT-3 as members of an AI writers’ room. We will discuss issues of liveness and serendipity; possibilities for human/non-human co-authorship; and relate computational processes to human language, perception, and ultimately how AI can be a tool for creativity and co-creation.
  
  We are not just interested in what it means to co-author or rather collectivize or share authorship beyond the single human author but rather what the ingredients of liveness, audience participation, live sound scoring, working with actors or performers in the context of AI (GPT-3).
  It is important to note that the language model in this event has been primarily trained on English. What does that mean in a place like Barcelona where Catalan is always adjacent to Castellano? We will relate this to work in Barcelona that has explored GPT-3 such as Barcelona Super Computer Center’s explorations of Catalan question answering (see their recent paper here) and AIMCAT, the Catalan team who recently created an AI song.
  
  The day-long workshop begins with a brief introduction to large language models and generative text; then proceeds through a series of AI writers rooms, gaining experience with prompt authorship and interaction with GPT-3. We will build towards human rehearsals of AI-generated text, culminating in a live radio show performance for both an in-person audience (30-40) and streamed to a large online audience. This final performance will be porous, inviting audience participation and involvement in shaping the development of the human/non-human radio drama.

• Biography: Our interests range from speculative design to nomadic radio, collective storytelling, live-action-role-play, sonic environments, machine imagination and streaming public space. Patrick Coleman, Jinku Kim, Ash Eliza Smith, Robert Twomey and Radio EE: Agustina Woodgate, Hernan Woodgate and Stephanie Sherman.