⌻ ⍍
⌺ ⌹ ⍠
I have spent the last fifteen years building AI systems that are meant to enable new forms of storytelling. And in recent years I have been making tools to help designers shape these kinds of experiences without writing code.
⌸ ⍄ ⌻
These days, I’m hacking away at Sifty, a software studio specializing in author-centric AI systems. Our first offering is Viv, an engine for emergent narrative.
⌼ ⍃ ⍍
I earned a PhD in Computational Media from UC Santa Cruz in 2018, where I was a member of the Expressive Intelligence Studio. My thesis, Curating Simulated Storyworlds, is about detecting stories that emerge in complex systems like computer simulations—a task I called story sifting. I have also carried out research in conversational AI, discovery tools, and the history of computational media. My 50+ academic publications are all available here.
⍠ ⌸ ⌼
Past projects include: Bad News, a work of AI-assisted immersive theater that won the IndieCade 2016 Audience Choice Award; Sheldon County, a proof-of-concept AI-generated radio drama that was featured on BBC Radio in 2018; and Sienna, a chatbot that engages email scammers to waste their time. My work has been written up in The Guardian, The Verge, The Register, Vice, New Scientist, and Rolling Stone.
⍠ ⍁ ⌻
I’m also the proprietor of Aleator Press, an indie press and art dealer specializing in computer-generated literature and early generative art. Our highlight release is Wendit Tnce Inf, a letterpress book of computer-generated prose poems by Allison Parrish. As a dealer, we have handled early pieces by artists such as Harold Cohen.
⌹ ⍄ ⍠
I live in Minneapolis with my wife, Nina, and our two kids.
⍁ ⌻ ⍍
Want to get in touch? Feel free to send an email!
⍄ ⌻