Category Archives: Events

Future Imaginaries

Events News Projects Thoughts and speculation No Comments

Now available on my Youtube channel – the closing “Futures Imaginaries” talk at the Goethe-Institut Indonesien’s Digital Discourses Science/Fiction conference, looking at how future-shaping technologies are changing the way we live, work, and eat.

I talk a bit about the interactive role of stories, and in particular speculative fiction, with future(s), describe a project with King’s College London and a project with Cybersalon, read a short story designed to raise ethical issues with AI predicting future mental health, and then answer audience questions.

Influencing and predicting the future using speculative fiction:

  • What is the role of science fiction in imagining the future?
  • Do science fiction’s predictions affect the future?
  • How can fiction raise ethical issues around the future of technology and society?

Influencing the future?

Events News No Comments

I’m busy thinking about and planning my talk at the Goethe-Institut Indonesien’s Digital Discourses Science/Fiction conference. As always I find it interesting to stop and consider the what and why of this aspect of my work.

The conference is looking at how future-shaping technologies are changing the way we live, work, and eat. And, I’m talking about whether science fiction can influence / affect / predict the future and my experiences of writing near-future fiction to raise ethical issues in public engagement events with scientists and technologists.

If you want to know a bit more feel free to join me for some pre-event Q&A on twitter (5pm Jakarta time on Monday 24 October).

I’ll be speaking at the conference on Friday 28 October (1pm UK / 7pm Jakarta) https://goethe.de/digitaldiscourses]

Utopia Now!

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On Tuesday 11 October I’ll be running a creative writing workshop with young people (14 – 18 years old). From this, they will create their own visions of the future and write short stories based around them.

What’s fantastic about this project is that there will be input to the workshop from King’s College London researchers, who will also discuss their visions for the future. And, previous workshops have shown me just how knowledgeable and balanced young people can be about our possible futures.

“Utopia Now! In the future, will robots run schools? And will food be grown in labs? Come along to develop your creative writing and story ideas with published Science Fiction writer Stephen Oram and researchers at King’s College London working at the forefront of scientific research. This workshop is for people aged 14 – 18 years old.” [Science Gallery London, Great Maze Pond London SE1 9GU booking required]