Conviviumhttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/one text per session, plain-language glosses, discussion questions and facilitator sheets, and no verdicts.enSession 1: Aristotle's Three Kinds of Friendship and the Question of Artificial Companionshttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/aristotle-three-kinds-friendship/https://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/aristotle-three-kinds-friendship/Wed, 28 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTIn the Nicomachean Ethics, Aristotle distinguishes friendships based on usefulness, pleasure and mutual appreciation of character.Session 4: Ovid's Pygmalion and the Statue That Comes to Lifehttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/ovid-pygmalion-artificial-companions/https://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/ovid-pygmalion-artificial-companions/Sat, 24 Oct 2026 09:00:00 GMTOvid's story of Pygmalion describes a sculptor who falls in love with a statue he has made and receives divine help in bringing it to life.Session 5: Frankenstein and the Creature's Request for a Companionhttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/frankenstein-creature-companion-request/https://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/frankenstein-creature-companion-request/Tue, 20 Oct 2026 12:00:00 GMTIn Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, the Creature asks Victor Frankenstein to create a female companion because he expects that another being like himself might relieve his isolation.Session 8: Hoffmann’s The Sandman and Olimpia: A Reading on Projection, Recognition and Artificial Companionshiphttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/hoffmann-sandman-olimipia-seeing-desire/https://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/hoffmann-sandman-olimipia-seeing-desire/Thu, 15 Oct 2026 14:00:00 GMTE. T. A. Hoffmann’s The Sandman asks what happens when someone mistakes an appearance for a person who understands them.Session 9: Weizenbaum's ELIZA Paper: A Primary-Source Reading on Machines, Language and Human Trusthttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/weizenbaum-eliza-1966-reading/https://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/weizenbaum-eliza-1966-reading/Mon, 05 Oct 2026 15:00:00 GMTJoseph Weizenbaum's 1966 paper on ELIZA describes a computer programme that produces conversational responses by transforming patterns in a user's language.Specimen 1: How to Read an AI Companion Platform: A Short Guide to Design, Friendship and Artificial Intimacyhttps://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/contemporary-ai-companion-platform-reading/https://convivium-8sp.pages.dev/contemporary-ai-companion-platform-reading/Mon, 28 Sep 2026 15:00:00 GMTAn AI companion platform can be read as a designed cultural object: its characters, presentation and forms of interaction establish expectations about intimacy and companionship.