Compassionate Computing

Ideathon for Climate 2023

AI for Creative Storytelling: Climate Change in Oregon

Student organizers

CS and ETM students in Dr. Agrawal’s and Dr. Jetter’s labs, respectively.

  • Yufei Tao (CS)
  • Dahm Hongchai (ETM)
  • Juan Vasconez (ETM)
  • Kaushambi Gujral (CS)
Ideathon faculty mentors

Prof. Brianne Suldovsky (Communications) and Prof. Kathi Inman Berens (English)

Student participant disciplines
  • computer science
  • communication 
  • creative writing 
  • mechanical engineering 
  • engineering and technology management 
  • business – finance
  • world languages 
  • business – data analysis 
  • English literature
Project summaries
  • One team built a chatbot and a website that farmers in eastern Oregon could use to find reliable, Oregon-specific information about sustainable farming. They used ChatPDF to ingest many scientific reports into their bot, and ChatGPT to develop the website as well as the conversation model. [winner: Most risk-taking]
  • Tapping into Oregon’s tourism industry, one team futurecast the impact that climate change would wreak on the Oregon coast, the Gorge, and Mt. Hood in just 30 years. Their project was told in images generated through AI systems including Midjourney. [winner: Best pitch to target audience]
  • One team wrote a play to reach rural people who get most of their climate information from friends and family. The team queried ChatGPT to write a script that would be performed in rural communities about “dry fields” and how to access local resources about sustainable farming. The group used Midjourney and other image AI to generate posters and backdrops that they used while they performed the play. [winner: Most interdisciplinary]
  • Appealing to young readers, one team built a 7-panel comic using AI to generate every element, including which character types would have the most sway with young readers. Doug Fir, Benny Beaver and Mt. Hood were the main characters in an adventure to save the earth. All art and script were generated by AI, including the speech bubbles inserted into the cartoon-style images. [winner: Most optimistic]