Workshop 6: Selling the Future: Investigating the Rhetoric of AI Advertising

Leaders: Kaitlyn Haynal (University of Mary Washington) and Ryan Cheek (Missouri University of Science & Technology)

Artificial intelligence companies have produced a growing body of advertisements,
launch videos, product pages, keynote presentations, demonstrations, and public statements that
explain what AI is and what kind of future it promises. The RhetAI Coalition’s Core Advertising
Narratives Task Force, co-chaired by Ryan Cheek of Missouri S&T and Kaitlyn Haynal of the
University of Mary Washington, is building a public database that collects these materials and
organizes them around recurring narratives such as productivity, partnership, trust,
democratization, creativity, and technological transformation (Bareis & Katzenbach, 2022;
Majdik & Graham, 2024). This workshop invites participants to use that database to develop
their own rhetorical research.

After a brief introduction to the archive, participants will select artifacts connected to
their interests and begin developing individual projects. Possible topics include metaphor, visual
rhetoric, labor, gender, agency, public culture, political economy, technological ethos, and
changes in AI discourse over time. Small group discussion will give participants an opportunity
to test research questions, compare interpretations, refine arguments, and receive feedback.

Participants will leave with a focused corpus, a preliminary argument, and a short chapter
prospectus that they can continue developing after the Institute. The workshop will also support a
planned edited collection on the rhetoric of AI advertising, public communication, and
technological futures. Participants will be invited to develop projects begun during the workshop
for possible submission to that collection.

Note from the organizers:
As per previous workshops, there may be pre-reading and pre-work required before June. Your leaders will reach out to you some time after registration with additional details.