Workshop 2 - November 17, 2020

AI Narratives in Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction

Platform: Zoom

Language: Chinese, with simultaneous interpretation into English

Programme

16:30-16:40 CST (8:30-8:40 GMT) Introductions

SONG Bing, Vice President, Co-Director, Berggruen Research Center, Peking University
Kanta Dihal, Postdoctoral Researcher, Project Lead on Global Narratives, Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence, University of Cambridge

16:40-17:10 CST (8:40-9:10 GMT) Talk 1

“Chinese AI Science Fiction in the Early Period of Reform and Opening-Up (1978-1983)” (改革开放早期(1978-1983)的中国AI科幻小说)

WU Yan (吴岩) - Professor, Research Center for Science and Human Imagination, Southern University of Science and Technology

17:10-17:40 CST (9:10-9:40 GMT) Talk 2

“Algorithm of the Soul: Narrative of AI in Recent Chinese Science Fiction” (灵魂的算法：近期中国科幻小说中的AI叙事)

ZHANG Feng (张峰，pen name “Sanfeng”) - Researcher, Research Center for Science and Human Imagination, Southern University of Science and Technology

17:40-18:10 CST (9:40-10:10 GMT) Q&A

18:10-18:20 CST (10:10-10:20 GMT) Break

18:20-19:50 CST (10:20-11:50 GMT) Roundtable Discussion

Host:

Guests:

Baoshu (宝树), sci-fi and fantasy writer
CHEN Qiufan（陈楸帆), sci-fi writer, screenwriter & translator
Feidao（飞氘), sci-fi writer, Associate Professor in the Department of Chinese Language and Literature at Tsinghua University
WANG Yao（王瑶，pen name “Xia Jia”), sci-fi writer, Associate Professor of Chinese Literature at Xi’an Jiaotong University

Discussion points:

How does Chinese sci-fi literature since the 19Reform and Opening-up compare to sci-fi writing in the west?
How does the the Wandering Earth narrative and Chinese perspectives on home influence ideas about the impact of AI on the future