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4 Narrative and Emerging Technologies
Pages 21-26

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From page 21...
... COMPUTATIONAL MODELING OF NARRATIVES A computer scientist by training, Michael Young, University of Utah, described aspects of his work in building computational models that can be used analytically. He began by explaining that his objective in building computational models of narrative is to produce not only textual narratives but also cinematic narratives for 3D virtual worlds and interactive narratives for virtual environments and computer games.
From page 22...
... Referring back to earlier discussion of the point that narratives exist and are understood within the scope of narrative landscapes, a participant asked whether there is a similar landscape that must be considered when building a model and what this means for the creation of models. Young responded that this is actually a critical perspective in computational research and that a debate exists as to whether story structure is separate from the discourse component.
From page 23...
... He suggested that the combination of increased access to data, improved processing power, and new algorithms has allowed researchers to extract data structures that have helped solve critical engineering problems. However, he asserted, while machine learning will most likely continue to advance such scientific breakthroughs as self-driving cars, it will not answer such important questions as how to understand the cognitive processes around narrative.
From page 24...
... Returning to the subject of measuring attitude and behavior, Tejeda responded that technology helps researchers move beyond traditional survey work into more observational techniques. For example, she said, in addition to "clicks" and "likes," a researcher might analyze online comments to provide context for those choices.
From page 25...
... Tejeda commented that while the possibility of companies using technology to influence the choices made by an individual is disturbing, she is not sure that a mass influence campaign would be effective. Returning to the idea that individual narratives are understood and shaped by narrative landscapes in which they fall, she suggested that attempts to influence on such a large scale may fail.
From page 26...
... However, he continued, there has been a recent trend among computer scientists to suggest that big data has made theory obsolete. Young agreed that this is a problem.


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