The Digital Revolution, From Ada to Zuckerberg

Catalog description

This course will explore the history of the digital revolution from the 1830s to the present. It will begin with Ada Lovelace and the conception of a general-purpose computer and culminate with the creation of social networks and the sharing economy. Special attention will be paid to the three inventions that created the digital age: the computer, the microchip, and the internet. The themes will include the importance of collaboration in innovation, the need to connect the humanities and the sciences, and how networked digital technology disrupts traditional hierarchies. We will look at what makes a successful digital business. We will also debate two schools of thought that have developed since Alan Turing asked whether machines would ever be able to think like humans: those who pursue artificial intelligence versus those who focus on ways to use machines to augment human intelligence.