The workshop aims to bring together a group of researchers and practitioners working on AI chatbots, companionship, and conversational systems from across media studies, digital methods, AI research, theatre studies, and adjacent fields. 

The day is organised around three aims:

• Taking stock of current research and teaching practices on AI companionship through chatbots, agents and related technologies, across disciplinary and normative contexts.
• Working collectively towards methodological frameworks for studying chatbots in sustained and relational settings.
• Identifying directions for future collaborations and joint funding applications.

The morning session combines short introductions, a keynote by Dr. Sander De Ridder (University of Antwerp) on sense-making practices around intimacy and desire, titled “A Critical Humanist Approach to AI, Companionship and Intimacy” and a show-and-tell round by participants. In the afternoon, we will move into working groups and a plenary discussion. The working groups will be organised around participants’ interests in specific approaches, such as ethnography, personas, and digital methods, as well as broader questions concerning the pedagogical rationale for teaching chatbot research and debates around potential harms.

We would like you to consider giving a 10-minute presentation on a current project, an ongoing methodological puzzle, or a teaching experiment relating to chatbots. This is not a requirement, but it gives the day its substance.

Lunch and coffee are provided. 

If you are able to join us, please complete this short form by Monday, June 15: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfhkHWQCo3KHcGba-zz8fD_HUyInpujHclfWAYwdfy1reyiGA/viewform?usp=header 

**Programme**

• 09:00-9:30 Meet & greet
• 9:30-10:00 Introduction
• 10:00-11:00 Keynote by Dr. Sander De Ridder - A Critical Humanist Approach to AI, Companionship and Intimacy. 
• 11:00-11:15 Coffee break
• 11:15-12:30 Show&Tell (10’ presentations from participants)
• 12:30-13:30 Lunch 
• 13:30-15:00 Working groups: methods, pedagogies, and technical aspects
• 15:00-15:30 Coffee break
• 15:30-17:00 Plenary discussion of results
• 17:00-17:15 Closing