BEFORE YOU START: This is a creative AND analytical assignment. You’ll be using AI tools to generate a fictional but plausible history of a future war. You’ll then turn that history into an illustrated, interactive timeline, and finally, deconstruct the narrative to figure out where the AI got its ideas—and how realistic they are.

PART ONE – Using AI to Create Your Narrative

THE DIRECTIVE:

Imagine you are a historian writing in the year 3024, looking back on a global conflict that began in the year 2050. Your task is to generate a narrative history of this war using an AI text tool such as ChatGPT.

You are not writing a list or a textbook entry—you are telling the story of this war the way a historian would in a book or documentary: with characters, turning points, cause and effect, and reflection.

Your narrative should read like a first-person account, memoir, or historical reflection.

WHAT STARTS IT ALL? Suggested Causes for your FUTURE WAR– Pick One, Invent Your Own or let AI decide for you!

Here are 5 Possible Themed Causes for a Future War:

1. Climate Collapse and Geoengineering Rights:

When rising sea levels and superstorms reach a tipping point, nations fight over the right to control the planet’s climate using dangerous weather-altering technologies.

2. AI Sovereignty and Machine Rights

Sentient artificial intelligences demand independence, territory, or equal representation—sparking conflict between AI-led factions and human governments.

3. Resource Scarcity and the Battle for Water

Drought and desertification turn freshwater into the world’s most valuable resource. Nations, corporations, and underground militias compete for control of rivers, aquifers, and atmospheric condensers.

4. Space Colonization and the Martian Rebellion

Colonists on Mars or the Moon declare independence from Earth, leading to a planetary war over freedom, taxation, and interplanetary power.

5. Digital Collapse and the War for Reality

A global cyberattack wipes out major digital infrastructures. As societies struggle to rebuild, different factions emerge with competing visions of how the new digital world should be governed—if at all.

CREATING YOUR NARRATIVE:

Your historical narrative should include:

✔ A compelling title for the war
✔The cause(s) of the war and the event that ignited it
✔The nations, alliances, or factions involved
✔The timeline of the war, including the start and end date
✔Descriptions of major battles or campaigns
✔ How the war affected societies, economies, and politics
✔ Changes in technology, including AI or machine intelligence
✔The environmental consequences of the war
✔ At least 10 significant events, woven into the narrative

SUGGESTED NARRATIVE FORMAT:

“They say the sky turned orange in the spring of 2050, the day the first satellites fell. I was only a child then, but the sound of the sirens and the burning horizon never left me. That was the beginning of what we now call the Fracture Wars…”

Start with a moment, a perspective, or a reflective quote. Then unfold the story over time. You may zoom in on events or characters, reflect on consequences, and connect global changes to human (or AI) experience.

Your story should cover at least 10 significant events, across multiple categories (military, social, economic, political, technological, etc.).

Once you have created your narrative, REVIEW it! Understand what happens to who and why in your HISTORY OF A FUTURE WAR.

PART TWO – Building the Timeline

You will now bring your Future War narrative to life by creating an interactive timeline using Time.Graphics.

Getting Started:

Go to time.graphics
Sign up using your school Google account
Click CREATE to start your timeline
Title your timeline after your war (e.g., The Solar Conflict: 2050–2059)

Not sure how to use time.graphics?

Ask ChatGPT for help! It has full knowledge of Time.Graphics tools and can explain how to:

Add events
Change the timeline scale
Add media (images, links or sound files)
Customize colors and themes

Timeline Requirements:

Your timeline must include at least 10 significant historical events from your AI-generated narrative. These events should reflect a range of categories:

Military
Social
Economic
Political
Technological and/or Environmental

Each Timeline Event Must Include:

A title and date (in MM/DD/YYYY format)
A short description (2–3 sentences) explaining the event and its importance, you will get this information directly from your historical narrative of your war.
An AI-generated image that reflects the tone and content of the event

Creating Images:

Use an AI image generator such as DALL·E or PartyRock. I recommend PartyRock, since it allows unlimited generations.

Be thoughtful with your image prompts—match the tone and historical feel of your war.
To improve image quality, try this PartyRock setting:
- Switch to:
  GENERATION MODE > GENERATED IMAGE > EDIT > ADVANCED > AMAZON NOVA CANVAS > VERY STRICT
KEEP IN MIND, not every image needs to be FUTURE ROBOT BATTLE IMAGES! Here are some ideas for possible images that you might include in your timeline:

Category	Sample Image Ideas
Military	Drone swarm over desert city, orbital strike in low orbit, mechs in urban ruins
Social	AI classroom teaching kids, propaganda billboard with neural implant ad, refugee caravans in climate domes
Economic	Collapsed trading floor, street markets with barter chips, digital coin meltdown screen
Political	Peace treaty signing in VR, coup in neon-lit parliament, holographic AI ambassador
Environmental	Melting glaciers with power plants, green desert bio-domes, sandstorm over ruined farmland
Tech	AI in server temple, robotic limbs in battlefield surgery, sentient drone protesting for rights

THE DRONE PROBLEM: Because AI uses a large library of photos, illustrations and artwork to create its AI images, it tends to rely on these to create our FUTURISTIC IMAGES. This is a problem. For instance, when I put the term "drone" into an image query about the futuristic wars of 2050, I get images such as these:

Notice the close similarity to the DJI PHANTOM drone that was popular 10 years ago:

The problem is that DRONES don't even look like that anymore in the year 2025, much less in the year 2050. To fix this, we need to rig the system. If we change our QUERY to something that forces AI to move out of its DRONE COMFORT ZONE, such as:

When I used the first OPTION, I received the following "drone image," much more likely in the year 2050:

PLEASE MAKE SURE TO INCLUDE QUERIES THAT ALLOW AI TO BREAK OUT OF ITS COMFORT ZONES TO CREATE ACTUAL FUTURISTIC MACHINERY, CITIES, TECHNOLOGY, ETC.

PLEASE NOTE: DALL-E HAS VERY STRICT FILTERS ABOUT ANYTHING VIOLENT, SCARY, FUTURISTIC, WAR-RELATED, ETC. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND USING PARTYROCK FOR THIS PROJECT!

EXTRA CREDIT (BUT NOT OPTIONAL!): ADDITIONAL HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS. Use your AI skills to generate some or any of the following for inclusion in your TIMELINE. Each included ARTIFACT will be worth 5 extra credit points for a maximum of 20 extra credit points!

POSSIBLE "HISTORICAL ARTIFACTS" from your war:

A character profile (with portrait image and background) of a historical figure from your war. Think of this as a TECHNOLOGICAL TRADING CARD OF THE FUTURE.
An artifact or document (e.g., peace treaty, AI manifest, propaganda poster)
A battlefield map or strategic overlay outlining a specific battle or conflict.
A museum-style description of a key object, weapon, or tech from the war—imagine it's behind glass with a caption EXAMPLE: (“On loan from the Eurasian Conflict Archives, this neural amplifier was worn by General Savik during the Siege of Madrid.”)

Economic Chart or Info Panel: A graph or visual infographic showing a dramatic change: food prices, currency collapse, AI population growth, refugee counts

Resistance Message / Radio Broadcast / Hacktivist Message: A short “underground” transmission from a rebel group, AI collective, or resistance movement—think War of the Worlds or V for Vendetta vibe. You can use TEXT TO SPEECH for this and insert it into your timeline.

Tech Spec Sheet or Blueprint: A schematic or futuristic product flyer (weapon, mech, drone, AI implant), maybe paired with an ad or military recruiting poster

Submission:

When your timeline is complete, send the link to Mr. Burkhard so it can be included on the class showcase website.

PART THREE – Deconstruction and Analysis (There will be an online form to complete this soon!)

This is where we get analytical.

Once your timeline is complete, look back at the entire narrative and analyze where the AI might have pulled its inspiration. You’ll be using AI and other sources to create an analysis of each idea below. Please put together 1–2 paragraphs for each topic.

GENERAL: Which AI-generated events could actually happen? What’s pure sci-fi?
Military: Are these battles or tactics based on real-world conflicts? Drones, cyberattacks, or trench warfare? Give citations or links to online information that might have been the sources for this future narrative that you have constructed. Where do you think that came from??
Social: Are the civilian impacts (refugees, protests, surveillance) similar to events in history or today?
Economic: Do the economic effects (sanctions, shortages, energy crises) mirror anything happening now?
Political: Did the AI pull from current international tensions, or historical examples like the Cold War, NATO, or WWI?

You’ll finish by answering this question:

"Does YOUR FICTIONAL FUTURE WAR feel possible? Inevitable? Why or why not?"

GRADING – 100 Points

Category	Points
Compelling and complete AI-generated war narrative	25
Interactive timeline with clear, relevant events	25
Quality and relevance of AI-generated images	25
Deconstruction and analysis of AI inspirations	25