Joelle Renstrom

Boston University

Joelle Renstrom has written about robots and artificial intelligence for the Slate, New Scientist, Aeon, Undark, Popular Science, and other publications. She gave a TEDx talk in 2017 about how science fiction can help save the world and her work has been featured in pieces published by Boston University, Boston Globe, and NPR. Business Insider touted her as someone to whom others should listen about the future. She teaches writing and research at Boston University.

joellerenstrom.com

Selected publications:
“Conferences on Gaming and Sex Robots Cancelled After Protests Over Steve Bannon Keynote” Undark
“Looking for Alien Life? Seek Out Alien Tech” Wired
“What Would it Mean for Humans to Become Data?” Slate
“What Does Consent Mean If One of You is a Robot?” Daily Beast
“Artificial Intelligence, Real Emotion?” Slate
TEDx talk: “Science Fiction: Teaching Students How to Save the World”

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All Sessions by Joelle Renstrom

  • 5. Fr

    Game Development

  • 14:00  - 14:45
    This talk will trace the evolution of the “other” (aliens, robots, and AI,) in science fiction, as well as the evolution of humanity’s attitudes and interactions with those beings.

    Sci-fi, especially stories that feature non-human characters, is ultimately about what makes us human (or not). By examining various sci-fi narratives, this talk seeks to shed light on the question of how humans are different from aliens and robots, and how or why do those differences matter, especially as we head into the future? Finally, the talk will link examples from sci-fi to examples of real-world innovations and advancements that demonstrate various ways science fictional narratives and thought experiments could help us anticipate social, environmental, and even evolutionary challenges, as well as come up with possible solutions.
    Where
    Open Space

  • 15:30  - 16:15
    Panel Discussion with all summit speakers.
    Where
    Open Space




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Joelle Renstrom