Shut Up & Write!® Santa Cruz / Monterey Bay

Are the AI hobgoblins pecking at your future words? Join us at Rosie McCann's Irish Pub as we look out across this brave new world and assess what it may offer. This will be more of a discussion and brainstorm, and a chance to chat among fellow humans, than a definitive resolution of our questions, because .... TBH, nobody knows what's coming!

Is AI an existential threat that writers should fend off, or will it enable new forms of creative expression that only await our discovery?

- How have you used AI in your writing?
- Does it enable you or tempt you with a crutch?
- Should schools adopt AI tools in their writing curriculum?
- Should students be judged for their writing skills, or their fluency with AI assistants?

To kick off the discussion, we will open with two topics presented by our panel of experts:

— Creative Translation: Dana Peleg is an author and professional translator. She uses AI to assist in the creative process of translating literary fiction and poetry from Hebrew into English, as well as a tool in her own creative writing in English.

— Educational Intelligence: Aaron Zachmeier is Director for Instructional Design & Media Production at University of California, Santa Cruz, where he assists the teaching staff in keeping up with the clever uses of technology being deployed by university students.

Do you have a topic or expertise to share? Feel free to contact your friendly neighborhood host (Peter) via direct message (preferred) or with a comment below, to discuss your ideas.

We will offer a few insights, and hope to generate a rousing discussion, brainstorm and perhaps an agenda for a follow up meeting.

Don't feel overwhelmed and all alone. Join us, and we can feel it together!

Comment below if you’d like to attend a Zoom version of this event.

No AIs were harmed for this presentation.

Check out our newest venue at the renovated and, well, positively swanky Trout Farm near Felton.
— Wifi available
— Delicious food
— Outdoor veranda seating option
— Electric plugs, indoors and out
— Lovely walks nearby for before or after, such as Quail Hollow, Loch Lomond, Henry Cowell virgin redwood loop (and Bigfoot museum!)

Approximate Schedule:

1:00 — 1:15 — Check in with group — what is today's goal?

1:15 —> Write like a trout, leaping upstream. Write like a salmon in the wind!

3 — 5pm — Happy Hour! Have a fish taco, or one of the other Happy Hour specials (To see a photo of their Happy Hour menu, click here).

4:45 — Wrap up, feedback, next steps…

5pm — Well, it is Trout Farm Happy Hour. Stay for a drink, people watch, go for a short hike, or generally move along.