By Zoe Mantas
What could the future look like? What do we want it to look like? ‘All Tomorrow’s Futures: scientists meet sci-fi writers to invent possible futures’ hosted by the King’s Institute for Artificial Intelligence attempts, if not to answer, then to explore how we might try.
Bringing together creatives and experts, All Tomorrow’s Futures is a project in foresight, attempting to provide plausible (or at least thought-provoking) narratives for how technologies may change our society. What makes it different from other projects is its methodology tying experts and creators together from the very start of the process to bounce ideas off each other and bring in research and creative resources. The panel was chaired by Dr. Christine Aicardi, senior research fellow in science and technology studies (STS) from King’s College London, and included editors and writers Benjamin Greenaway and Stephen Oram, with contributions from Dr. Elizabeth Black and Professor Claire Steves, and the discussions focused more on the process and intent of the project rather than the content of the book which contained resulting stories.
So, what is foresighting? Let’s start with what it isn’t: a definitive prediction. Foresighting isn’t about saying what will happen. It’s about saying what could happen. More importantly than that, it is about the skill of asking important questions and developing ideas to support future possibilities. Interestingly, the panellists emphasized the importance of participatory foresight, bringing in perspectives beyond the usual ‘experts’. The panellists emphasized the importance of asking who is envisioning these futures in the status quo right now and the need to actively include those in society who feel, in the main quite rightly, that they do not have agency in the decisions being made that will affect their futures.This also goes beyond the UK, for example, the future is African – it is the youngest continent, yet our global future imaginaries in the field of science fiction and beyond are not yet shaped in a way representative of people who will live in those futures.
What struck me was that the event was proof of concept of some of the ideas explored in the book. Notably, the final section of the book is about education and learning, and this event successfully put into practice the principles of collaborative learning, and cross-disciplinary exploration in a de-formalized academic settings. It was interesting to hear from other contributors too who were in the audience, such as Jayen Parmar, Eva Pascoe and Prashant Vaze.
Jayen, an expert in policing technology, brought up the value of diversity of thought, mentioning how in his field of operational policing it is considered vital. He explains that with a variety of perspectives comes strength. And this event definitely did have a variety of ideas, and it had its fair share of disagreement. With participants who were experts in climate financing, AI ethics, policing technology, nuclear security and more, this diversity led to well-rounded and interesting discussions that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise. Each brought their own perspectives and expertise to the conversation, and it is the same multidisciplinary way that the book itself was developed.
All Tomorrow’s Futures is the successor to think-tank Cybersalon’s 22 Ideas About the Future, which evolved from a series of readings and in-depth discussions involving researchers, experts and writers. One thing that kept coming up after the completion of that project was a desire for experts to be involved in the writing process from the beginning rather than commenting on completed stories. In response, Greenaway and Oram developed a new system for creative collaborations that involves selecting specific authors (rather than taking story submissions) and appropriate experts and, from the very start of the process, ensuring that they are able to bounce ideas off each other, share resources and collaborate on research for future-oriented stories.
While it’s an undeniably cool project, what’s the impact? And why is it being discussed in an academic context? What sticks in my mind is an explanation by Dr. Aicardi, “Visions mobilize resources for the present.” While the short stories are fictional, the issues they explore are pressing. The creative exploration of ideas about futures can be beneficial in a variety of contexts. At the College of Policing’s library, All Tomorrow’s Futures is almost always checked out. In educational settings, where asking students to read and write fiction can enhance understanding of the topic at hand; as Prof. Claire Steves said, “Getting students or postdocs to read it […] get together and discuss their reactions […] how to generate new ideas about what to research.” In decision making, e.g. emergency preparedness where practitioners and policy experts can use narratives to simulate possible disaster situations and responses. Yet, applying speculative cultures in education is far from mainstream.
The project goes against the grain of traditional academia, to demonstrate the benefits of creativity, collaboration and looking forwards. As Dr. Aicardi noted, “The reason why I’m doing this work is because I am an unusual academic. I don’t have a career in academia at stake. This kind of work may be enjoyed and even encouraged but not properly recognised and rewarded.”
Details for All Tomorrow’s Futures: Fictions That Disrupt can be found at https://mybook.to/atf
The event was recorded and is available on YouTube.
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