At HumAIn 2025 in Sydney, now part of Mumbrella360’s expanded AI stream, I was stoked to be invited to join a panel that cut through the confusion and got into the use of AI chatbots in the media space.
The panel explored where chatbots shine, where they don’t, and how we navigate bias, error, and technical limits. While most voices on the panel spoke from the perspective of customer service, automation, and internal operations, I was there to bring something different to the table: the fictional AI character as a controlled creative interface.
I introduced Bruce Ryder, not as a free-talking AI, but as a custom-coded character who lives inside a carefully architected story-world. Bruce has chat features. He has a voice (for mature audiences only). But unlike open-ended chat agents, it was never my intent for Bruce to talk freely. His responses, tone, and persona are shaped by narrative context, not neural prediction. This isn’t about letting AI say whatever it wants. It’s about designing characters who behave with the creative integrity of the world they’ve been built in.
In a moment when free-talking agents are trending across every platform, it felt important to show that AI doesn’t always have to be uncontained. Sometimes, the best audience experience is one where story and behavior are in sync with direction and specific outcomes.
We screened a short scene that showed Bruce in action with me, demonstrating how a character can still engage through conversation without becoming unpredictable or misaligned with brand tone based on the user. It was my goal to demonstrate to the audience what it looks like when AI is used not as a substitute for human interaction, but as a storytelling device inside a larger fictional system.
I wanted to reframe what counts as an “AI chatbot.” Because when you’re working in hyperfiction, a chatbot isn’t just a customer service tool. It’s a character function.
In addition to the event I created an special event feature for HumAIn to use to promote the event as well as featuring across all Bruce Ryder socials