MS 171 PO

The rapid development of A.I. technologies, in which machines take on functions previously associated with human cognition, raises the question of what, if anything, is unique to human experience: a capacity for desire? humor? abstract thinking? aesthetic judgment? In this class we will examine how the boundary between the human and the machine appears as an object of investigation in contemporary literature and film, as well as in media theory and critical theory. These texts bear on topics that include surveillance and facial recognition; techno-utopianism and dystopianism; the algorithmic reproduction of bias; and the technological sublime. Students will work on creative research projects that may take a range of forms.

PO Area 1 Requirement, Linguistics & Cog Sci, Media Studies