"AI: Admin Life" was originally developed for the
2024 CCCC Fall Virtual Institute: Machine Writing and the Work of Rhetoric and Composition Program for a roundtable on Administration and generative AI facilitated by Sherry Rankins-Robertson, University of Central Florida; Aurora Matzke, Chapman University; Angela Clark-Oates, California State University, Sacramento; Kyle Jensen, Arizona State University; Priscila Santa Rosa, University of Central Florida; and myself, Anastasia Salter, University of Central Florida.
Given the levels of frustration and burn-out that frequently accompany such conversations, we decided to approach our initial discussion through play. To facilitate that dialogue, I developed this simple visual novel focused on the experiences of a hypothetical chair navigating a day while trying to balance the concerns of students, faculty, and upper administration. It is in conversation with the approach of a simple playable editorial Ian Bogost, Simon Ferrari, and Bobby Schweizer discuss in
Newsgames: Journalism at Play: thus, it is intended more as a timely provocation than a true simulation.
While the emphasis of the play experience is on triaging the constant flow of questions and complaints to gain reputation with the various groups, there are other options in the interface that diverge from that emphasis on productivity. The player is able to explore the bookshelf repeatedly, finding new advice both on administration and generative AI each time, but at the cost of reputation with all factions. There is also a pencil cup that calls the player to their own writing - it cannot be selected. The overall design choices were all intentional, and were not generated by the system. Everything else, including the at times questionable humor, was generated based on these design patterns.