BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Sabre//Sabre VObject 4.6.1//EN
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
BEGIN:VEVENT
UID:f7dd0e1e-40c0-48d5-9c9c-4ff486175349@www.lectures.iastate.edu
DTSTAMP:20260602T105634Z
LAST-MODIFIED:20261005T091910Z
DTSTART:20261015T223000Z
DTEND:20261015T223000Z
SUMMARY:The Romance of Technology: The Human Desire for Intimacy With and T
 hrough Machines
DESCRIPTION:This event is a featured part of the Constructed Agents Symposi
 um.\n\nThough large language models are new\, the urge for instantaneous\,
  disembodied connection is not. The fictionalized diary - intimate\, femin
 ine\, unfolding in real time - originated in the eighteenth century and in
 vented a style that continues to inform chatbot communication in the prese
 nt day. In this talk\, I explore the history of the fictionalized diary fo
 rm and a more recent example: "Go Ask Alice\," a novel which claims to be 
 the “actual diary of a 15-year-old drug user” but was really written b
 y Mormon mom Beatrice Sparks. What I find is a public fantasy masquerading
  as private feelings: a longstanding art of womanhood. It’s a history th
 at rarely figures into discussions of AI but is essential for understandin
 g how humans interact with chatbots – and why we’re so often left want
 ing more. \n\n Megan Ward is a professor in the School of Writing\, Litera
 ture\, and Film at Oregon State University\, where she also serves as Dire
 ctor of the Center for the Humanities and the Center for Material Cultures
  Research in Archaeology\, Art\, and Indigenous Studies. A specialist in B
 ritish literature and the history of the novel\, her research examines how
  Victorian realism continues to shape culture — including the developmen
 t of artificial intelligence. She is the author of "Seeming Human: Victori
 an Realist Characters and Artificial Intelligence" (Ohio State UP\, 2018) 
 and is currently completing "Chatbots in Love\," a book of essays explorin
 g how human desires for intimacy have driven — and limited — the creat
 ion of AI. Her scholarship has appeared in "New Literary History\, AI Narr
 atives\, and The Routledge Guide to Politics and Literature\," and she has
  written for general audiences in "The Atlantic"\, "Wired"\, "The Washingt
 on Post"\, and the "Los Angeles Review of Books." She holds a B.A. from La
 wrence University\, an M.Phil. from Oxford University\, and an M.A. and Ph
 .D. from Rutgers University.\n\nThe University Book Store will be onsite s
 elling the speaker's book(s) at the event.\n\nThis lecture recording can 
 be found on the Available Recordings page approximately two business day
 s after the event and will remain accessible for three weeks.
LOCATION: Campanile Room\, Memorial Union
URL;VALUE=URI:https://www.lectures.iastate.edu/event/romance-technology-hum
 an-desire-intimacy-and-through-machines
IMAGE;VALUE=URI:https://www.lectures.iastate.edu/files/styles/width_limit/p
 ublic/images/2026-08/Ward_FB.png?itok=leRDSJfB
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR