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Hello and welcome!  I’m Leone, a creative writing researcher, artist, and teacher based in the beautiful Holme Valley in Yorkshire.  I’m interested in storytelling of all kinds, but the lion’s share of my work is related to fiction for the young.

The element of creative writing which interests me most is character development.  It was this passion that led me to embark on a PhD, which I completed in 2024. During my research, I became particularly interested in the construction of AI characters—robots, talking computers, and other forms of artificial intelligence.  How do writers think about these characters?  What kinds of choices get made, consciously or unconsciously, when portraying them?

To explore these questions, I turned to posthumanism—a perspective that disrupts rigid, categorical thinking and encourages us to look beyond traditional views of what it means to be human.  Through this lens, I began to identify some of the challenges of portraying AI characters… and there were a great many!  However, the two that stood out for me were first, a tendency to reinforce stereotypes, particularly gender stereotypes, and second, a tendency to create one of two narratives about AI—that it will either destroy us or save us.

Although my PhD is over, I’m still researching these ideas.  Thinking about how we can make sure AI characters don’t reinforce harmful ideas is important—perhaps now more than ever, given the speed at which intelligent technologies are advancing.  In fact, there’s an ongoing interaction between the AI interfaces we develop in the real world and those in the stories we make up.  For example, in their book, The Computer’s Voice: From Star Trek to Siri (2020), Liz Faber demonstrates that the real world gendering of AI interfaces has long been influenced by the portrayal of talking computers in science fiction.  Faber explains how developers themselves have admitted this, with the makers of Siri, Google Assistant, and Alexa all admitting they drew inspiration from fictional computers.

For writers, and indeed other arts practitioners, this implies a certain responsibility.  It suggests the need for reflexivity—that is, attempting to notice, account for, and respond to our own biases in what we create.  Of course, achieving this fully is likely impossible, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t reach for AI characters that challenge, rather than reinforce, existing stereotypes and rigid ideas about what it means to be human.  Because who knows?  The stories we write today might just shape the technologies of tomorrow.

Thanks to what I learnt from my research, I now approach storytelling with a heightened awareness of the impact character choices can have.  I think very deeply about my own cultural biases, and hope to create narratives that are thought-provoking and inclusive.  I’m also constantly keen to learn how other writers consider these matters, and to explore and reflect on our practices together.

Of course, my work isn’t limited to AI.  Children’s fiction in general captivates me because it allows me to blend two of my favourite activities: writing and painting. There’s something special about stories that are brought to life with illustrations and on that score, I spend as much time immersing myself in other people’s work as I do contemplating my own.  In fact, there’s nothing I like better than to sit down with a nice cup of tea and leaf through pages of beautiful illustrations, marvelling at how the words and images work together.

Middle grade fiction is another area which fascinates me, both as a writer and an academic.  As you might imagine given my interest in AI characters, anything containing a robot or a talking computer is something I’ll want to read and when I do so, I try to work out what such characters reveal about our own, human culture and beliefs.

Children’s literature aside, I have a background in screenwriting.  I went to film school some twenty years ago and completed an MA in that subject.  Since then, I’ve helped many writers hone their screenplays into dramatically effective work, both as a university lecturer and through professional script development.

When I’m not working, I pursue my passion for botanical painting.  Occasionally, I even sell some.  I find experiencing the natural world through art deeply relaxing, and I’m always happy to encourage anyone who shares that interest.  I also enjoy reading poetry, and watching science fiction.

At the moment, I’m trying to work out what to do next, now that my PhD is complete.  Ultimately, I hope to help myself and others create new worlds and characters that inspire and entertain, and which will lead to new areas of research.  Whether you’re a young reader, a fellow writer, a fellow academic, or just curious about the magic of storytelling, I hope you find something here that sparks your imagination and encourages you to go on reading, writing, and celebrating the myriad of narratives we humans create.