CAREER: Combining Crowdsourcing and Computational Creativity to Enable Narrative Generation for Education, Training, and Healthcare

该项目探讨了自动叙事生成的问题，即通过计算机系统创造叙事。该项目引入了一种变革性的叙事生成新方法，将人类和计算创造力与众包结合在一起。该系统解决了计算机依赖于预先编码的领域知识的基本限制，以便生成几乎无限种类的叙述，并使非专家和非程序员创建交互式叙述成为可能。该研究有四个主要组成部分：(1)开发模拟人类创造叙事能力的人工智能算法。(2)设计和实现人机创造性协作的新模式。(3)研究人类叙事学习和认知的基本问题。(4)探索叙事生成在现实世界中的作用：与人类建立融洽关系的虚拟代理和创造和分享互动体验的智能创造力增强工具。这项工作将在两个医疗保健系统中进行试点：一个虚拟代理，通过自传式叙述与患者建立融洽关系并促进纵向接触；还有智能工具，可以让护理人员为患有自闭症的年轻人创造社交技能场景来练习。叙述之所以重要，是因为它是人类组织、理解和解释世界的基本手段。如果计算机系统能够创造有效的叙事，它们就能更好地与人互动。这项研究将产生新的算法、软件和实验知识体系，使交互式叙事系统的构建成为可能，这些系统实用、可扩展、非程序员也可以使用，并且可以解决教育、培训和医疗保健干预方面的重要社会问题。所提出的创造性支持方法将大大降低创建交互式叙事系统的技术、艺术和技能障碍，为教育者、培训师、护理人员和业余爱好者创造和分享交互式体验开辟道路。该项目包括一项教育计划，旨在开发一个可持续的年度夏季黑客马拉松营，其中高中生与K-12教师一起创造互动叙事，以激励和指导课堂探究性学习。黑客马拉松旨在为少数族裔和社会经济地位较低的高中学生提供动手操作的计算机科学经验，并为K-12教师创建一个基于互动式探究的学习软件系统库。

The proposed project explores the problem of automated narrative generation, the creation of narratives by computer systems. The project introduces a transformative new approach to narrative generation that blends human and computational creativity with crowdsourcing. The system addresses fundamental limitations of computer reliance on pre-coded domain knowledge in order to generate a virtually unlimited variety of narratives and make it possible for non-experts and non-programmers to create interactive narratives. The research has four major components: (1) Develop artificial intelligence algorithms that emulate human ability to create narratives. (2) Design and implement novel models of human-computer creative collaboration. (3) Study fundamental questions pertaining to human narrative learning and cognition. (4) Explore the role of narrative generation in real-world domains: virtual agents that create rapport with humans and intelligent creativity augmentation tools for creating and sharing interactive experiences. The work will be piloted in two healthcare systems: a virtual agent that creates rapport and fosters longitudinal engagement with patients through autobiographical narratives; and intelligent tools that allow caregivers to create social skill scenarios for young adults with autism to practice. Narratives are important because they are a fundamental means by which humans organize, understand, and explain the world. If computer systems could create effective narratives, they would be better able to interact with people. The research will result in novel algorithms, software, and a body of experimental knowledge that will enable the building of interactive narrative systems that are practical, scalable, usable by non-programmers, and can address societally important problems in education, training, and healthcare interventions. The proposed approach to creativity support will significantly lower the technical, artistic, and skill barriers to creating interactive narrative systems, opening avenues for educators, trainers, caregivers, and hobbyists to create and share interactive experiences.The project includes an educational plan to develop a sustainable, annual summer hack-a-thon camp wherein high school students work alongside K-12 teachers to create interactive narratives that motivate and guide classroom inquiry based learning. The hack-a-thon aims to provide minority and low socioeconomic high school students with hands-on computing science experience and to produce a library of interactive inquiry-based learning software systems for K-12 teachers.