AI has left science fiction and entered our classrooms, studios, laboratories, workplaces, churches, and homes. It is changing what we can create, what we are willing to delegate, how we understand intelligence, and which futures seem possible.
AI and the Imagination brings together writers and artists, technologists and theologians, researchers and educators, leaders, practitioners, and students to explore the questions no single discipline can answer alone. What will AI make possible? What might it diminish? Who will decide what comes next?
“There is no fate but what we make for ourselves.” - Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Award-winning author of Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead, Orson Scott Card joins
AI and the Imagination for special conversations exploring artificial intelligence,
science fiction, storytelling, imagination, and the human future. Additional speakers
will be announced soon.
Guest of Honour: Orson Scott Card
AI and the Imagination brings together conversations that too often occur separately: writers and artists imagining technological futures, theologians and philosophers asking questions about human identity and purpose, educators considering the future of learning, researchers exploring new forms of discovery, leaders navigating organizational change, and practitioners putting AI to work.
Hosted by Oral Roberts University, the conference welcomes participants from all institutions, disciplines, professions, and perspectives.
Oral Roberts University invites proposals from faculty, researchers, educators, professionals, practitioners, faith leaders, writers, artists, graduate students, and undergraduate students. Interdisciplinary work is particularly encouraged.
March 5, 2027. Rolling review. Presenters will normally be notified within two weeks. In person. A 15-minute presentation followed by 5 minutes of discussion.
Deadline
Acceptance
Presentation Format
Conference Tracks
Science fiction, fantasy, film, literature, art, storytelling, speculative futures,
and the ways imaginative works help us understand possible futures.
Christian theology and AI, ethics, human dignity, personhood, moral agency, wisdom,
responsibility, vocation, technology and faith, and related philosophical or religious
questions.
Cognitive and agency offloading, judgment and decision-making, autonomy, dependence,
human-AI relationships, meaning, purpose, identity, formation, and human flourishing.
Pedagogy, assessment, academic integrity, AI literacy and fluency, faculty development,
student learning, educational technology, curriculum design, and emerging models of
education.
Work, economics, culture, politics, law, relationships, inequality, democracy, social
institutions, public policy, and the broader consequences of AI for the human future.
Leadership, organizational strategy, institutional transformation, governance, policy,
risk, workforce development, and responsible AI adoption.
AI-enabled research, interdisciplinary research methods, scientific discovery, innovation,
entrepreneurship, and emerging approaches to scholarship and creative inquiry.
We welcome proposals for scholarly papers and other presentations. Proposals should include:
Email proposals to either conference co-organizer. Proposals will be reviewed as they are received, and early submissions are encouraged.
Submit to Dr. Andrew Lang Submit to Dr. Mark Hall
Registration opens soon. Options will be available for conference attendees, presenters,
and students. Accepted presenters must register for the conference. Check back for registration details, pricing, and the conference schedule. AI and the Imagination will be held on the campus of Oral Roberts University in Tulsa,
Oklahoma. ORU guests may reserve rooms at participating hotels using the university’s
negotiated rates, subject to availability. Parking, campus directions, and additional travel information will be provided closer
to the conference.Registration and Travel
Registration
Hotel and Travel
Dean, College of Science and Engineering. Senior Professor of Mathematics, Oral Roberts
University. alang@oru.edu Dean, J.D. McKean Library. Senior Professor of English, Oral Roberts University. mhall@oru.edu
Conference Organizers
Dr. Andrew Lang
Dr. Mark Hall
Read more about the organizers: Dr. Andrew Lang and Dr. Mark Hall.