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IMA Major Electives, Studies (aka "Seminar") (Old Structure), Undergraduate

The Speculative Philosophy of Artificial Intelligence (INTM-SHU 297T)

This 2-unit interdisciplinary research seminar will be held in conjunction with an international symposium convened by the NYU Center for AI and Culture, which will bring leading scholars, curators, science fiction writers, and heads of major platform research groups to campus. The seminar will host a deeper interdisciplinary conversation on the issues that underpin their work. Seminar participants will meet each of the conference speakers. We will emphasize the overlapping and intersecting histories of “AI” in cognitive science, philosophy, interactive and computer arts, and science fiction literature and film. The frequent back-and-forth between AI in fiction and in fact is the basis of how we will, together, attempt to map the divergent futures of AI. It is said that artificial intelligence will be as important to the twenty-first century as oil was to the twentieth. AI is promoted by China, Europe, Russia and the USA as central to their innovation strategies and, as such, may portend a new computational arms race. There is consensus that geopolitical peace and conflict may be determined by how great nations use AI for good or ill. To define AI is is to conceive what is and is not “intelligence” and what is and is not “artificial.” Because no two cultures understand these basic terms in the same way, they will not understand AI in the same way. As such, any global discussion about the future of AI must be cross-cultural. The more we understand what each culture “means” by AI the more fruitful the collaborative design of AI can be. The seminar is suggested for students of Interactive Media Arts, Computer Science, Political Science, Philosophy, and anyone interested in algorithmic art, automation, machine vision, computational economics, and geopolitics. We will read and discuss 10 key texts and students will prepare an original project, paper or hybrid. Prereq: WAI Fulfillment: IMA/IMB elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
2 credits – 8 Weeks

Sections (Spring 2021)

INTM-SHU 297T-000 (20382)
03/22/2021 – 05/14/2021 Fri
9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)
at Shanghai
Instructed by Bratton, Benjamin Hugh

IMA Major Electives, Studies (aka "Seminar") (Old Structure), Undergraduate

The Planetary: Computation in the Anthropocene (INTM-SHU 296)

This course will examine the relationship between planetary-scale computation and the development of planetarity. We take as starting points that (1) the very notion of climate change is an epistemological accomplishment of planetary-scale sensing, modeling and computation systems and (2) the ecological costs of computation are on an unsustainable trajectory. The seminar will ask: what are alternative futures for computation as human and ecological infrastructure? The primary subject of research is the transition from computation as a digital media object to computation as continental scale infrastructure. The scope and significance of this shift are fundamental for the development of interactive art and design that seeks to explore critical alternatives to extant models for this. What we call planetary-scale computation takes different forms at different scales—from energy and mineral sourcing and subterranean cloud infrastructure to urban software and massive universal addressing systems; from interfaces drawn by the augmentation of the hand and eye to users identified by self—quantification and the arrival of legions of sensors, algorithms, and robots. Each of these may represent a direct harm upon effected ecosystems and/or a means for and informed viable administration of those same systems. The course is primarily geared to advanced IMA students but is open to students from any major who are interested in engaging with contemporary issues of computation, society and ecology. Final projects will combine original written work and speculative design that can draw on diverse student core skill sets. Prerequisite: Sophomore Standing. Fulfillment: IMA Major Electives; IMB Major Interactive Media Elective.

Interactive Media Arts (Undergraduate)
4 credits – 15 Weeks

Sections (Fall 2022)

INTM-SHU 296-000 (17305)
09/05/2022 – 12/16/2022 Thu
9:00 AM – 12:00 AM (Morning)
at Shanghai
Instructed by Bratton, Benjamin Hugh