Writing Futures: Investigations

This chapter begins with imagining the future through Musk’s (2020) argument for telepathy, noting the need to be aware of dramatic shifts in technological futures. We include detail on the Fabric collection—Writing Futures: Collaborative, Algorithmic, Autonomous—noting the emergence of artifacts involving humanoid robots. Our hope is that readers not fall prey to reductive binaries, but rather begin to investigate and prepare for the social, literacy, and civic engagement implications of collaborative, algorithmic, and autonomous writing futures. We emphasize that doing so requires trust and leadership, providing resources to examine the critical link between trust and AI. We summarize the resources, themes, theories, and applications mentioned in earlier chapters; suggest directions for investigating and planning for writing futures; and interpret these through sets of past and proposed investigations across academic, industry, and civic realms. We emphasize the importance of drawing on models from multiple disciplines as we work to refine and reinvigorate our fields, professions, and endeavors. We call upon readers to revitalize writing practices through new forms of collective intelligence amid a changed and changing world.