AI, Algorithms, & Power
SISP 357
Spring 2021 not offered
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This course explores artificial intelligence (AI) as a cultural, sociopolitical, and literary object. Course readings will begin with the observations of anthropologists at the post-WWII Macy Conferences on cybernetics. Students will put algorithmic data mining and machine learning in historical context, exploring classification systems and intelligence testing. Students will also examine the reanimation of the artificial human in newer discourses of AI, such as big data and predictive policing, virtual reality and drone strikes in commercial and military operations, health and assistive technology, and play and labor on platforms like Mechanical Turk. Course texts will include speculative fiction on artificial life, social theories of simulation and virtuality, and new work from queer studies and critical race studies interrogating algorithmic bias and the testing and classification of humanity. |
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| Credit: 1 |
Gen Ed Area Dept:
HA CHUM |
| Course Format: Seminar | Grading Mode: Student Option |
| Level: UGRD |
Prerequisites: None |
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Fulfills a Major Requirement for: (SISP)(SISP-Anth Conc)(SISP-ScieDblMjr) |
Major Readings:
Katherine Hayles - HOW WE BECAME POSTHUMAN, Margaret Mead - CYBERNETICS OF CYBERNETICS, Jean Baudrillard - SIMULACRA AND SIMULATION, Tom Boellstorff - COMING OF AGE IN SECOND LIFE, Ted Chiang - THE LIFE CYCLE OF SOFTWARE OBJECTS, micha cardenas, Alex Weheliye - HABEAS VISCUS, Larissa Lai - THE AUTOMATON BIOGRAPHIES
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Examinations and Assignments:
Weekly readings, three short essay assignments, and semester-long avatar project |
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