Coverage about the ethics, safety, and societal impact of Artificial Intelligence come back to the same tired science fiction shorthands (HAL 9000, Terminator, Minority Report) that play out worst case scenarios. These prominent AI stories pits man versus machine, relying on one of the most fundamental examples of narrative conflict to move the story forward.

We need to get more creative with the ways we frame the conversation about societal concerns with AI because stories we tell about technology direct our attention and determine our future.

What if we pushed to imagine alternative stories about artificial intelligence to explore some of the more pressing and realistic concerns we face, rather than skewing the discussion towards apocalyptic, dystopian, worst-case scenarios? Instead of pitting man versus machines, we can consider versions of the story that presume man working with machines, and instead focus on other elements of storytelling to frame our understanding in more useful and productive ways.