Off Center

Off Center, a Podcast from the Center For Digital Narrative
  • 4.8 (5)
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • UPDATED BIWEEKLY

Off Center is a podcast series from the Center for Digital Narrative, a Norwegian Center of Research Excellence at the University of Bergen, Norway. In each episode, host Scott Rettberg and a guest delve into a topic revolving around digital storytelling and its effect on contemporary culture. The series covers academic research on digital narratives in electronic literature, computer games, social media, computational narrative systems, AI, XR and more in an enjoyable and understandable way.

  1. Episode 42 - 18th Century AI Slop with Hazel Wilkinson

    5D AGO

    Episode 42 - 18th Century AI Slop with Hazel Wilkinson

    Did you know slop was a problem long before AI? This episode of Off Center takes us all the way back to the 18th century as today’s host, Jill Walker Rettberg, discuss the precursors to AI slop with Hazel Wilkinson, Associate Professor of English at the University of Birmingham. Hazel’s specialty is 18th century literature, a time when paper and printing became much cheaper and it became possible to make a living by selling your writing. That also led to a lot of “bad literature”, to the development of copyright laws and to many discussions about the differences between originality and even “genius” and imitative “bad” writing that are surprisingly similar to today’s debates about AI slop and the threat LLMs pose to “good” literature.   Hazel’s previous research has been on book history and printer’s ornaments, and we begin the discussion by looking at an ornament often used in books that weren’t highly appreciated for their literary quality, showing an ape copying out a text by candlelight. Our discussion ranges from Pope’s The Dunciad, which parodies hack writers, to automatons that wrote out poems in carefully automated handwriting, to “it-narratives” told from the perspective of writing instruments like quills and paper that are outraged at the banal writing the humans use them for.   Hazel Wilkinson’s university profile page: https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/english/wilkinson-hazel  Compositor is a database of eighteenth century printers’ ornaments. https://compositor.bham.ac.uk/

    34 min
  2. The AI Update XVIII - Musical Futures

    FEB 2

    The AI Update XVIII - Musical Futures

    Following Universal Music Groups' settlement and partnership of Udio, Scott and Jhave sit down to discuss the potential future of music in a world with AI.

    32 min
  3. Christmas Special Holiday Extravaganza Show

    12/17/2025 · BONUS

    Christmas Special Holiday Extravaganza Show

    Look what just dropped down the chimney: Why, it's the first Off Center Christmas Special Holiday Extravaganza Show! Featuring music, human and otherwise, lessons in Norwegian folklore, Christmas beers reviewed, holiday traditions from various cultures, and merriment of all sorts. Featuring Jill Walker Rettberg, Anne Sigrid Refsum, Nick Montfort, Gabriele de Seta, Drew Keller, Hanne-Rikka Roine, Yagmur Vik, Tegan Pyke, Nadja Heiber, Rafael Pérez y Pérez, Søren Pold and the New Originals, Andreas Opsvik, and Ola Roth Johnsen.

    1h 10m
  4. ALGOpod #4: Nick Seaver

    12/15/2025

    ALGOpod #4: Nick Seaver

    In episode four of ALGOpod, Gabriele de Seta welcomes Nick Seaver, Associate Professor in Anthropology and Director of the Science, Technology & Society program at Tufts University, to catch up on his recent ethnographic research on algorithms, computing and automation.

    58 min
  5. The AI Update XVII - Incest Economy

    12/08/2025

    The AI Update XVII - Incest Economy

    Scott and Jhave are back talking billions of dollars and discussing whether the new AI economy truly is "too big to fail".

    20 min
  6. Episode 41 - Digital Art and Meaning with Roberto Simanowski

    12/01/2025

    Episode 41 - Digital Art and Meaning with Roberto Simanowski

    On this episode Scott talks to author and media theorist Roberto Simanowski about digital media, AI, art and hypertext.

    48 min
  7. The AI Update XVI: Anthropic Copyright Settlement

    11/17/2025

    The AI Update XVI: Anthropic Copyright Settlement

    Scott and Jhave are here to talk about a major class-action lawsuit that will reward authors for the fact that their books were used for AI training data... and this is not just any class-action lawsuit: the largest publicly reported settlement in human history. References: https://www.anthropiccopyrightsettlement.com/ My Book Was Stolen by an AI Company. Why Does Suing Them Feel Wrong? Thea Lim https://thewalrus.ca/suing-ai-company/

    21 min
  8. ALGOpod #3: Minna Ruckenstein

    11/10/2025

    ALGOpod #3: Minna Ruckenstein

    In episode three of ALGOpod, Gabriele de Seta visits Minna Ruckenstein, a Professor in Emerging Technologies in Society at the University of Helsinki's Consumer Society Research Center, for a deep dive into her work on algorithmic folklore.

    42 min
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Ratings & Reviews

4.8
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Off Center is a podcast series from the Center for Digital Narrative, a Norwegian Center of Research Excellence at the University of Bergen, Norway. In each episode, host Scott Rettberg and a guest delve into a topic revolving around digital storytelling and its effect on contemporary culture. The series covers academic research on digital narratives in electronic literature, computer games, social media, computational narrative systems, AI, XR and more in an enjoyable and understandable way.

Information

  • Creator
    Off Center, a Podcast from the Center For Digital Narrative
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    66
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Off Center, a Podcast from the Center For Digital Narrative
  • Show Website
    Off Center