Storytelling always changes with technology. Every innovation has made our stories advance and adapt to the technology at hand. No matter what happens with technology and in our lives in general, how our lifestyles change and habits as well, storytelling is an integral part of our being. We have been telling stories for centuries and we will continue to tell them for centuries to come. Stories have followed every shift and every technological advancement.
The next step in our innovation process is a logical one – artificial intelligence. Scientists are using algorithms and machine learning to program computers that will create stories on their own. Developers upload stories to help algorithms learn better and faster to recreate human tone of voice. Then they can recreate patterns and tell stories, sometimes just as good as humans.
It makes sense that we, the storytellers, would place stories in the DNA of AI.
Amazon Alexa and Echo voice devices can use the personal assistant interface as a way to make your life easier – it can handle everything from organization of your personal schedule, calls and so on. Alexa is also a storyteller and has an open source edition of skills where developers can create skills that they want to add and then this is added to the Amazon marketplace so that people can use it on any Echo device. These skills often involve telling stories. Alexa is far more than a virtual assistant, it’s a storyteller. The same is true for Siri from Apple and Google Assistant. They do give canned responses for now but they will develop and do things that we can only imagine now.
“Botnik is an online community that combines AI and real humans to create an app that allows the users to select different source texts and suggest words at random to compose a tale. It can get a little mixed up but the result is a funny text that will entertain you”
says Fay Wilson, a brand manager at Paper Fellows and Academized.
The former head of Oculus Stories Studios and Fable Startup declared that AI is the next big storytelling art form.
In fact, it is the virtual beings, characters that are run by AI that will interact with humans and create stories. Alexa and Siri are not that far from it. According to experts, though, AI is there to serve people and we will never become friends in the real sense. It makes sense because friendship calls for friction and conversation in the real sense.
But scientists are finding ways to incorporate stories into AI in a way that can actually be meaningful and important. You might be able to interact with your favorite book characters and feel that you are in the room with them. A virtual being that can share their memories with you, discuss them with you and interact comes close to the dream of storytelling AI.
People behind AI want these characters to inspire you and make you feel welcome in their world. Imagine if you could interact with Harry Potter and visit Hogwarts.
This is great for marketing too. They can use it as a new and fun way to tell stories to their customers, brand stories and present their pitches this way. This can be an excellent thing for sales and a novel way of interaction with consumers. AI will not just be an art form in a sense of books, radio or movies. It will be something that can interact with consumers and collect data at the same time that can help you in the future for personalization and improving their service.
“This is the magic of AI – it can deliver messages in a more intimate, personal way. It can also help you improve your strategies and make them adapted to the user needs. AI might even deliver select messages in the character of popular people or book characters.”
says June Bethany, a communication professional at BigAssignments and State Of Writing.
All of this makes branding messages more personalized and more effective.
Of course, AI won’t be able to replace the human touch completely but it will feel like the character speaking to you directly and delivering a message. Sure, it won’t mimic the intricate writing and storytelling of great writers but it will be close enough.
About the author
Chloe Bennet is a contributor to BoomEssays and Essay Writing Service with a background in education. She writes about latest tech trends and works with teens. Also, Chloe develops a writing course at Essayroo website.