Intelligent machines, we often hear, are soon to become smarter than humans. They are to radically transform society. This course will examine artificial intelligence (AI) and related digital worlds from a science and technology studies (STS) perspective. Whether considered as a threat or celebrated for the promises it holds, AI has become the object of heated debates in recent years. In this course, we will challenge the myth of human life taken over by machines. After all, humans and machines have been entangled and have evolved together since time immemorial – examples including techniques such as maps, clocks, recording, computed calculation, and so forth. This being said, AI remains an important sociocultural phenomenon. This course will examine the origins of AI as well as the social orders and cultural practices involved in recent developments. It will explore its potential effects on society, the human psyche and the medical engineering of the body. Finally, the ethical and political implications of AI will be examined. Specific topics discussed will include: virtual words; the uploading of brains into computers; golems, monsters and posthumans; dreams of immortality; smartness and intelligence; bots and online contagion; machine learning, its impact and limits.
Vincent Duclos, "SCTS 205: Artificial Intelligence & Society", contributed by Ali Kenner and Eliza Nobles, STS Infrastructures, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 21 August 2018, accessed 23 November 2024. https://stsinfrastructures.org/content/scts-205-artificial-intelligence-society
Critical Commentary
Intelligent machines, we often hear, are soon to become smarter than humans. They are to radically transform society. This course will examine artificial intelligence (AI) and related digital worlds from a science and technology studies (STS) perspective. Whether considered as a threat or celebrated for the promises it holds, AI has become the object of heated debates in recent years. In this course, we will challenge the myth of human life taken over by machines. After all, humans and machines have been entangled and have evolved together since time immemorial – examples including techniques such as maps, clocks, recording, computed calculation, and so forth. This being said, AI remains an important sociocultural phenomenon. This course will examine the origins of AI as well as the social orders and cultural practices involved in recent developments. It will explore its potential effects on society, the human psyche and the medical engineering of the body. Finally, the ethical and political implications of AI will be examined. Specific topics discussed will include: virtual words; the uploading of brains into computers; golems, monsters and posthumans; dreams of immortality; smartness and intelligence; bots and online contagion; machine learning, its impact and limits.