Magic in the classroom: Labor, Delight, and A.I.

Note: Session time is listed in BST. Check your local time zone.

Generative A.I. apps have embraced ✨sparkles✨ and references to magic in their branding and user interfaces. The idea of magic has long been entangled with technology and the arts. Are massive neural networks “indistinguishable from magic,” to quote Arthur C. Clarke, making creative software even more like a black box? Or, as selected new media art suggests, can magic be an elixir for schools and economies obsessed with efficiency? Can automation unlock time for more deeply human work?

Participants will be invited into a summoning circle to share their experiences with magic in the classroom (artificial or not), and to discuss the value of labor in the age of automation and magic buttons.

Presenter: Benjamin Andrew, Assistant Teaching Professor (Penn State)

Session type: DYO