In Computation, Culture and Society, which satisfies a History of Civilization requirement, we consider the rise of computation, computers and artificial intelligence (AI) from ancient, analog efforts through state calculations and steampunk computers of the 19th Century to the emergence of digital computers, programming languages, screens and personal devices, artificial intelligence and neural networks, the Internet and web, and Large Language and Multi-Modal Models (LLMs and LMMs). Along the way, we explore how the fantasy and reality of computation historically reflected human and organizational capacities, designed as prosthetics to extend calculation and control. We come to consider how computers and artificial intelligence have come to influence and transform 20th and 21st Century politics, economics, science, and society. Finally, we examine the influence of computers and AI on imagination, structuring the utopias and dystopias through which we view the future. Finally, we consider AI and the future—the disruptions, positive and negative it promises, including the existential risks an increasing number of AI scientists and futurists fear. Students will read original texts and commentary, manipulate analog and digital hardware, software and AI, and contribute to Wikipedia on the history and the social and cultural implications of computing.
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Students are to prepare and post an up to 500-word response memo every week (except a foreshortened one when a digital museum project is due) by 10am on Thursday in response to the appropriately labeled assignment on the Canvas website (linked from the appropriate weekly page). These “responses” will respond to questions posted the prior Tuesday. They should not be summaries of the readings but develop theoretical or empirical arguments, ideally drawing on information across the readings and lectures (both convergences and contrasts) and possibly raising questions for further investigation. Quote and unambiguously cite (e.g., with a relevant page number) relevant passages from the readings as you draw upon them, but only as it assists you in furthering your argument. An additional small paragraph of this response (in addition to the 500-word memo) should be headed “Discovery.” In this paragraph, you will be expected to note something you “discovered” about computation through the historical exploration or field trip, whether or not related to the question, and to briefly speculate on its significance for (or absence from) computation, artificial intelligence and society today. Please be specific and locate the discovery through citation (and, if helpful, quotation) of the relevant explored passage or experienced historical artifact.
Note that these are NOT “quizzes.” They will be evaluated based on the depth of your analysis from 3 to 0, with: 3 (superb); 2 (good); 1 (adequate); 0 (nothing turned in), which roughly translate to the following emojis (grades): 😃(~A), 😐(~B+), 😕 (~B-), 💩 (~F). At least three of your memos should have the tag “” at the top to signify that this exploration assignment involved sensory interaction with original materials (e.g., not digital materials). This could include artifacts from one of our “field trips.” I want these memos to be well crafted and edited, but please paste them as text in response to the appropriate thread (not as a separate PDF document). Include optional photos, pictures, screenshots or diagrams as attached files, separate from but referenced in the text of your response memo.