Table Of ContentStudies in Computational Intelligence 969
Ann Hill Duin
Isabel Pedersen
Writing Futures:
Collaborative,
Algorithmic,
Autonomous
Studies in Computational Intelligence
Volume 969
SeriesEditor
JanuszKacprzyk,PolishAcademyofSciences,Warsaw,Poland
The series “Studies in Computational Intelligence” (SCI) publishes new develop-
mentsandadvancesinthevariousareasofcomputationalintelligence—quicklyand
withahighquality.Theintentistocoverthetheory,applications,anddesignmethods
of computational intelligence, as embedded in the fields of engineering, computer
science, physics and life sciences, as well as the methodologies behind them. The
series contains monographs, lecture notes and edited volumes in computational
intelligence spanning the areas of neural networks, connectionist systems, genetic
algorithms,evolutionarycomputation,artificialintelligence,cellularautomata,self-
organizingsystems,softcomputing,fuzzysystems,andhybridintelligentsystems.
Ofparticularvaluetoboththecontributorsandthereadershiparetheshortpublica-
tiontimeframeandtheworld-widedistribution,whichenablebothwideandrapid
disseminationofresearchoutput.
IndexedbySCOPUS,DBLP,WTIFrankfurteG,zbMATH,SCImago.
AllbookspublishedintheseriesaresubmittedforconsiderationinWebofScience.
Moreinformationaboutthisseriesathttp://www.springer.com/series/7092
·
Ann Hill Duin Isabel Pedersen
Writing Futures:
Collaborative, Algorithmic,
Autonomous
AnnHillDuin IsabelPedersen
DepartmentofWritingStudies FacultyofSocialScienceandHumanities
UniversityofMinnesota OntarioTechUniversity
Minneapolis,MN,USA Oshawa,ON,Canada
ISSN1860-949X ISSN1860-9503 (electronic)
StudiesinComputationalIntelligence
ISBN978-3-030-70927-3 ISBN978-3-030-70928-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-70928-0
©TheEditor(s)(ifapplicable)andTheAuthor(s),underexclusivelicensetoSpringerNature
SwitzerlandAG2021
Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsaresolelyandexclusivelylicensedbythePublisher,whether
thewholeorpartofthematerialisconcerned,specificallytherightsoftranslation,reprinting,reuse
ofillustrations,recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,and
transmissionorinformationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilar
ordissimilarmethodologynowknownorhereafterdeveloped.
Theuseofgeneraldescriptivenames,registerednames,trademarks,servicemarks,etc.inthispublication
doesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexemptfromtherelevant
protectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse.
Thepublisher,theauthorsandtheeditorsaresafetoassumethattheadviceandinformationinthisbook
arebelievedtobetrueandaccurateatthedateofpublication.Neitherthepublishernortheauthorsor
theeditorsgiveawarranty,expressedorimplied,withrespecttothematerialcontainedhereinorforany
errorsoromissionsthatmayhavebeenmade.Thepublisherremainsneutralwithregardtojurisdictional
claimsinpublishedmapsandinstitutionalaffiliations.
ThisSpringerimprintispublishedbytheregisteredcompanySpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG
Theregisteredcompanyaddressis:Gewerbestrasse11,6330Cham,Switzerland
Acknowledgments
ThedevelopmentofWritingFutureswasneverasolitaryexperience.Wewerelucky
enoughtobesurrounded(virtuallyandphysically)bycolleagues,students,family,
andfriendswhoconstantlyinspiredusovertheseasonsittooktocreateit.
WearegratefulfortheworkofSharonCaldwell,whoseexpertise,creativity,and
steadfastattentiontodetailhelpedusbuildourarchivedcollectionandintegrateit
withbookchaptersintrulyskillfulways.WeoweourgraciousthankstoMollyM.
Kessler,Lee-AnnKastmanBreuch,andLauraGurak,whoeachselflesslyhelpedin
very important ways. We thank James Harbeck, with his insightful and fastidious
copyedit. Our Springer editors and production team, Thomas Ditzinger, Gowris-
hankar Ayyasamy, and Sylvia Schneider, were immensely helpful while we wrote
and prepared the manuscript. We thank our blind reviewers for their time, energy,
and direction on the book. Developer Seth Kaufman from Whirl-i-Gig Inc. made
somecliffhangerdeadlinesformuch-neededchangestotheFabricdatabaseinlight
ofthebook’sdesign.
WearehonoredforthecollaborationoftheIntertextauthors,HeidiA.McKeeand
James E. Porter, Jennifer Keating and Illah Nourbakhsh, and Scott Sundvall, who
probed and provoked the book’s themes in myriad novel ways. It is stronger with
theirvoices.
Weextendourthankstoouracademiccollaboratorsandfriends,whosewisdom,
camaraderie,andscholarshipexhilaratedus,includingJasonTham,DanielHocutt,
AndrewIliadis,TomEverrett,PeterTurk,TannerMirrlees,JaydenCooper,andJack
AdamNarine.Weacknowledgetheimportantroleofourstudents:AnnHillDuin’s
graduateclassattheUniversityofMinnesota,scholarsMikaylaDavis,SeanGolden,
BrianLeLay,ShaneRose,andRiraZamani,willingtoshareopinions,raisedebates,
and question the future landscape of writing studies through their distinct schol-
arlylenses.ThestudentsofIsabelPedersen’scomputersciencegraduatecourseat
OntarioTechUniversity,GlobalAIEthicsbroughttheirowninsightstobearonmany
debated topics surrounding the emergence of AI during the writing of the book.
Another group that influenced our thinking and writing was the Building Digital
Literacy team, including graduate students Katlynne Davis, Saveena (Chakrika)
Veeramoothoo,andDanielleStambler;scholarsandprofessorsJasonTham,Daniel
Hocutt,JessicaCampbell,StephenFonash,LauraGonzales,JohnMisak,andNupoor
v
vi Acknowledgments
Ranade,whointegratedFabricofDigitalLifeincourseworkoverthreephasesofan
eighteen-monthstudy.Theseengagingscholarsfromdiversebackgrounds(compo-
sition,rhetoric,technicalcommunication,education)metregularly,sharedinstruc-
tionalmaterials,andwroteresearchpaperstogether.Wearegladtohavecollaborated
inthisongoingdialogovertheconceptofdigitalliteracy.
Wethankallthefuturistswhoinspireusdaily,andwebothmarvelandshudderat
thespeedwithwhichtheirpredictionsbecomerealityincollaborative,algorithmic,
andautonomouswritingfutures.
We thank our families for allowing us the time and space to muse over writing
futuresandtoaspiretocreateaframeworkforpreparingforwritingfuturesinadvance
ofmajortechnologicaltransformations.Wethankeachotherforatrulyremarkable
collaborativeexperience.
Last,weacknowledgethatthisresearchwasundertaken,inpart,thankstofunding
fromtheCanadaResearchChairsprogramandfromtheUSCouncilforPrograms
inTechnicalandScientificCommunication.
Contents
1 WritingFuturesFramework ..................................... 1
1.1 Introduction ............................................... 1
1.2 IntegrationwithFabricofDigitalLife ......................... 2
1.3 TracingtheFutureofWriting ................................ 5
1.4 PastStudies,FutureSpeculation .............................. 10
1.5 TheWritingFuturesFramework .............................. 13
1.6 OverviewofChapters ....................................... 15
References ..................................................... 20
Intertext—TheFutureofWritingandRhetoric:PitchbyPitch
byScottSundvall,TheUniversityofMemphis ...................... 23
2 CollaborativeWritingFutures ................................... 27
2.1 HowWillWritersCollaborate? ............................... 27
2.1.1 FoundationalScholarshiponCollaboration .............. 29
2.1.2 Socio-technologicalConstructionofKnowledge .......... 30
2.1.3 CollaborativeWorkspaces ............................. 35
2.2 What Digital Literacies Will Writers Need to Enable
Constructive,CollaborativeWorkwithNonhumanAgents? ....... 37
2.3 WhatCivicChallengesDemandCollaborative,Constructive
SocialActionThroughandwithNonhumanAgents? ............ 41
References ..................................................... 43
Intertext—Writing Machines and Rhetoric by Heidi McKee
andJamesPorter,MiamiUniversity ................................ 47
3 AlgorithmicWritingFutures .................................... 53
3.1 HowWillAlgorithmsandAIInformWriting? .................. 53
3.1.1 UnderstandingAlgorithms ............................ 54
3.1.2 PlatformStudies ..................................... 57
3.1.3 Demographics ....................................... 59
3.1.4 AlgorithmicAI ...................................... 60
3.2 WhatAILiteraciesShouldWeCultivateforAlgorithmic
WritingFutures? ........................................... 62
vii
viii Contents
3.2.1 Learning Analytics and Learning Management
Systems ............................................ 64
3.3 HowMightAIHelptoRecognize,Ameliorate,andAddress
GlobalCivicChallenges? .................................... 71
3.3.1 Writing for Ethically Aligned Design, Moving
fromPrinciplestoPractice ............................ 73
References ..................................................... 76
Intertext—RecodingRelationshipsbyJenniferKeating,University
of Pittsburgh, and Illah Reza Nourbakhsh, Carnegie Mellon
University ...................................................... 81
4 AutonomousWritingFutures .................................... 85
4.1 HowWillWritersWorkwithAutonomousAgents? ............. 85
4.1.1 TheRiseofVirtualAssistants .......................... 86
4.1.2 AIWriting .......................................... 91
4.1.3 CreativeAI ......................................... 96
4.2 HowWillLiteracyPracticesChangewithUseofAutonomous
Agents? ................................................... 98
4.3 What Affordances of Autonomous Agents Lend
ThemselvestoMoreEthical,Personal,Professional,Global,
andPedagogicalDeployments? ............................... 100
4.3.1 FairnessandNon-discrimination ....................... 101
4.3.2 AIExplainabilityandTransparency ..................... 102
References ..................................................... 103
5 WritingFutures:Investigations .................................. 109
5.1 ImaginingtheFuture ........................................ 109
5.1.1 TrustandTechnologicalLeadership .................... 112
5.2 Methods/Methodologies/Approaches for Investigating
andPlanningforWritingFutures ............................. 116
5.3 Academic,Industry,andCivicInvestigations ................... 123
5.3.1 AcademicRealm ..................................... 124
5.3.2 IndustryRealm ...................................... 127
5.3.3 CivicRealm ......................................... 130
5.4 ImaginingWritingFutures ................................... 134
References ..................................................... 136
AppendixA:Course Syllabus for a Graduate-Level Course,
Writing Futures—Collaborative, Algorithmic,
Autonomous .......................................... 141
AppendixB: Complete List of General Keywords in Writing
FuturesCollectionwithCounts ......................... 155
About the Authors
Dr.AnnHillDuin is Professor of Writing Studies and Graduate-Professional
DistinguishedTeachingProfessorattheUniversityofMinnesotawhereherresearch
and teaching focus on the impact of emerging technologies on digital literacy,
analytics, collaboration, and writing futures. She is a founding member of the
EmergingTechnologiesResearchCollaboratoryattheUniversityofMinnesota.She
served15yearsinhighereducationadministrativerolesincludingViceProvostand
AssociateVicePresidentforInformationTechnology.Herrecentscholarshipappears
inComputersandComposition,CommunicationDesignQuarterly,IEEETransac-
tions on Professional Communication, Technical Communication Quarterly, Plan-
ning in Higher Education, Rhetoric and Professional Communication and Glob-
alization, International Journal of Sociotechnology Knowledge Development, and
Connexions:InternationalProfessionalCommunication.Herinternationalcollabo-
rationincludesresearchclusterleadershipintheDigitalLifeInstituteatOntarioTech
UniversityandongoingmentorshipofglobalvirtualteamsaspartofTrans-Atlantic
PacificPartnershipinitiatives.
Dr.IsabelPedersen isProfessorofCommunicationStudiesandCanadaResearch
ChairinDigitalLife,Media,andCultureatOntarioTechUniversityintheFacultyof
SocialScienceandHumanities.SheistheFounderandDirectoroftheDigitalLife
Institute,whichhostsinternationalresearchpartnerships.Herresearchconcentrates
onhowsocietaltransformationtoverypersonal,embodiedtechnologyisaffecting
life,meaning-making,ethics,policy,politics,culture,andthearts.Sheteachesinthe
graduateprograminComputerScience.SheisalsoanAssociateoftheJointGraduate
PrograminCommunicationandCultureatRyersonUniversityandYorkUniversity.
SheisCo-editorofEmbodiedComputing:Wearables,Implantables,Embeddables,
Ingestibles (Pedersen and Iliadis 2020, MIT Press). She is published in academic
journalsincludingtheJournalofInformation,CommunicationandEthicsinSociety,
InternationalJournalofCulturalStudies,andtheJournalonComputingandCultural
Heritage.
ix
