DOI: 10.65266/NWWN3478
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Bibliographical Information: Miglianti, Giovanni. “If this is an Author: Sci-Fi and AI in the Literature Classroom.” Annali d’italianistica 43 (2025): 115-59.
Abstract: This article presents a pedagogical experiment conducted within the first-year seminar “If This Is an Author: Primo Levi and the Politics of Authorship” at Wesleyan University in the fall of 2023 and 2024. Part of a unit on science fiction and artificial intelligence, the experiment used Primo Levi’s playlet “Il Versificatore” (“The Versifier”), centered on a verse-writing machine, as a springboard to discuss contemporary notions of authorship, reception, and appropriation. By integrating the use of ChatGPT in the classroom, the experiment aimed at exploring the potentialities and limits of generative AI, as well as to raise questions about the evolving nature of authorship in the digital ecosystem. The article provides a description of these activities and draws on AI-generated texts and students’ comments to provide a model for merging theoretical exploration and practical application of generative AI in a literature classroom.
Key Words: artificial intelligence, authorship, ChatGPT, critical thinking, generative AI, literacy pedagogy, Primo Levi, Versificatore, Versifier, writing pedagogy.
