Humans vs. Computers: Will Artificial Intelligence Write Us Out of Existence?

Catalog description

Controversy about artificial intelligence (AI) is brewing, raising important questions about how technology is changing our worlds and what it means to be "intelligent." Is there something special about "natural" human intelligence that cannot be replicated artificially? Some say this newest technological advancement is different from those in the past that have worried and frightened us. Others say the capacities of current AI are leading us down a path that will irrevocably change what it means to be human. In this course, we will take up these questions, with particular attention to AI text generation, which seems to strike at our very identities as language users. These particular technologies have implications for education, medicine, law, journalism, among other industries. What are the risks and benefits of AI to us as humans, students, and then as professionals? How can we understand our relationship with AI? How can we come to understand, use, and develop literacy with AI language modules? We will explore these and other questions that we raise through a series of readings and writing projects. We will experiment with AI text generators like ChatGPT and Bard, we will research the various contemporary perspectives on AI, and we will debate to come to our own positions on this inevitable feature of our current and future lives. Recommended preparation: Academic Inquiry Seminar (AIQS) or SAGES First Seminar. Counts as a Communication Intensive course.