Minds Bodies and Machines

Catalog description

This first-year seminar examines the historical relationship between the categories of human and machine in the 20th century. We will look carefully at the history of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the history of the psychological sciences to unpack how work in AI has been built on particular understandings of the mind and the body and how, in turn, it has changed and shaped what it means to be human. This is a heavily discussion based seminar where students will engage with a variety of sources, including scientific writings, novels, films, and scholarship in the history of science, technology and medicine. Students will leave the class with a better understanding of the historical legacies in conversations around AI today and the potential ramifications that might have for who we are, who we’ve been and who we want to be as we reimagine the future of AI.