HSCI 236
Automatic Culture: From the Mechanical Turk to A.I. Spring 2018
Division II
Cross-listed SCST 236
This is not the current course catalog

Class Details

This course examines the histories of real and imagined automata–machines that perform complex and multi-step operations without continuous input from human minders. Case studies range from the late 18th-century “Mechanical Turk” hoax to factory automation in the 19th and 20th centuries to the contemporary automation of writing, reporting, and game playing by algorithms and artificial intelligences. We will study the receptions of automata by various audiences, their representations in literature and art, and occasional efforts by humans behave like automata themselves.
The Class: Format: seminar
Limit: 25
Expected: none
Class#: 3945
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: students will be evaluated based on mid-term and final essays, discussion participation, and brief in-class writing exercises.
Prerequisites: none
Enrollment Preferences: SCST concentrators
Distributions: Division II
Notes: This course is cross-listed and the prefixes carry the following divisional credit:
SCST 236 Division II HSCI 236 Division II

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