The goals of the course are to help students develop critical vocabularies for analyzing digital objects and processes, to build a collaborative space for reading, writing, and discussion, and to enact a kind of laboratory for experimenting with ideas. The class examines two contemporary issues surrounding digital media: the use of Large Language Models (sometimes called "generative AI") and the effects of digital media on attention. We will address how our everyday encounters with computational tools sometimes obscure important dimensions of those tools, how these systems create and exacerbate inequalities, and how we should think about the ways digital tools are shaping the ways we think, read, write, and build connections to one another.
No technological expertise is required, and students will be encouraged to experiment with a variety of ideas and technologies.
Image Credit: Illustration of participant in MIT Study about ChatGPT and brain activity (link)
