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Protocol Fiction Panel + Contest Announcement

Talk Stan Chen

The Protocol Institute announces a protocol fiction contest themed 'Ghosts and Machines,' inviting writers to imagine digitally haunted futures where distributed AIs and machines communicate through protocols. Stan Chen, author of Waste Tide and consulting editor at Protocol Eyes, leads a writing workshop on crafting stories with protocol thinking, emphasizing realistic, plural visions of AI futures that transcend utopian/dystopian binaries.

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Talk

A Protocol Fiction Protocol

Benitesh Raalo presents an informal talk on protocol fiction as a genre and methodology, framing it through the lens of theatrical performance (Kabuki) as an analogy for how protocols function as narratives. The talk explores protocol fiction as both a creative practice and a framework for understanding complex systems, introducing the concept of protocol fiction protocols—meta-protocols that govern the creation and analysis of speculative protocol narratives.

fiction protocol-fiction protocol-fiction-protocols

Benitesh Raalo

Talk

Fireside Chat with Nadia Asparouhova

Nadia Asparouhova discusses anti-mimetics—ideas that resist spreading or being remembered—drawing from SCP Foundation fiction and connecting the concept to Venkatesh Rao's 'cozy web' theory. She explores how certain ideas fade from memory despite documentation, and examines the tension between isolated intellectual communities and information spread.

anti-mimetics cozy-web memetic-resistance

Nadia Asparouhova

Talk

Centaur Fiction with Qiufan Chen & Amita Shukla

Qiufan Chen, an award-winning science fiction author, discusses his creative process of integrating large language models into fiction writing with Amita Shukla. Chen explores how LLMs function across multiple stages of his writing practice—from initial research and structural development to drafting and editing—drawing on his experience as one of the earliest serious public experimenters with AI-assisted literary creation.

ai-assisted-fiction-process creative-protocol-design fiction

Qiufan Chen, Amita Shukla