180.564 (20W) Are humans ready to be the future robots? Research and citizenship in a post-Internet society

Wintersemester 2020/21

Registration deadline has expired.

First course session
20.10.2020 13:30 - 19:00 Online-Meeting Off Campus
... no further dates known

Overview

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it may be necessary to make changes to courses and examinations at short notice (e.g. cancellation of attendance-based courses and switching to online examinations).

For further information regarding teaching on campus, please visit: https://www.aau.at/en/corona.
Lecturer
Course title german Are humans ready to be the future robots? Research and citizenship in a post-Internet society
Type Seminar (continuous assessment course )
Course model Online course
Hours per Week 2.0
ECTS credits 6.0
Registrations 27 (30 max.)
Organisational unit
Language of instruction English
Course begins on 20.10.2020

Time and place

Please note that the currently displayed dates may be subject to change due to COVID-19 measures.
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Course Information

Course content

With this provocative question, this seminar aims to discuss what kinds of social, professional and academic relations are made possible by innovations in information and communication technologies. It also argues about kinds of citizenship and academic research that can be affirmed in these contemporary and complex times.

The approach involves presentations and debates on data control by public and private corporations, in despite of the lack of privacy and availability for work by Internet users. It also considers the social legitimation of social media environment for everyday activities in cultural, economic and political aspects. And finally it reflects cultural interactions between human and robots, involving Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and bioinformatics.

The structure of the seminar considers principles and possibilities of citizenship in the post-Internet society, focusing what can be taken as real changes with media convergence in an Internet and social media environment (day 1), critical theory regarding these changes (day 2), regulation and ethics of these environments (day 3) and social organizations and movements that are fighting for social justice and facing these new challenges (day 4).

Literature

ANDERSON, Chris (2006). The long tail: why the future of business is selling less or more. Hyperion, New York.
BAUDRILLARD, Jean (1983). Simulations. Columbia University, New York.
BOYD, R., & HOLTON, R. J. (2017). Technology, innovation, employment and power: Does robotics and artificial intelligence really mean social transformation? Journal of Sociology, 54(3), 331-345.
BURGESS, Jean. and GREEN, Joshua (2009). Youtube: Online Video and Participatory Culture. Cambridge, UK, Malden, MA: Polity Press.
CASTELLS, Manuel (2012). Networks of Outrage and Hope: Social Movements in the Internet Age. Cambridge, UK, Malden, MA: Polity Press.
CRARY, Jonathan (2013). 24/7: Late Capitalism and the Ends of Sleep. London, New York: Verso Books.
FUCHS, Christian (2014). Digital Labour and Karl Marx. New York and London: Routledge.
FUCHS, Christian (2014). Social Media: A Critical Introduction. London, Thousand Oaks, New Delhi, Singapore: Sage.
JENKINS, H (2006). Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide. New York and London: New York University Press.
JENKINS, H; FORD, S. and GREEN, J (2013). Spreadable Media: Creating Value and Meaning in a Networked Culture. New York and London: New York University Press.
KATZ, James E. (Ed.), (2003). Machines that become us: The social context of personal communication technology. Piscataway, NJ: Transaction Publishers.
KEEN, Andrew (2018). How to Fix the Future: Staying Human in the Digital Age. Atlantic Books, UK.
LIN, P., ABNEY, K., & BEKEY, G. A. (2014). Robot ethics: the ethical and social implications of robotics. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
McCHESNEY, Robert W (2013). Digital Disconnect: how capitalism is turning the internet against democracy. New York: The New Press.
MOSCO, Vincent (2017). Becoming Digital: Toward a Post-Internet Society. Emerald Publishers.
MOROZOV, Evgèny (2010). Net Delusion: the black side of Internet freedom. NY: Public Affairs.
RHEINGOLD, H. (2003), Smart Mobs. The next social revolution. NY, Perseus Publishing.
SULLINS, J. P. (2012). Robots, love and sex: the ethics of building a love machine. IEEE Transactions on Affective Computing, 3(4), 398-409.
VIRILIO, Paul (2005). The information bomb. New York, Verso.

Movies
The terminator (1984); The Matrix (1999); I, Robot (2004); Superman (1978); Inside Out (2015); Sense8 (2015).

Examination information

Im Fall von online durchgeführten Prüfungen sind die Standards zu beachten, die die technischen Geräte der Studierenden erfüllen müssen, um an diesen Prüfungen teilnehmen zu können.

Examination methodology

expanded abstracts from 5-7 pages 

Grading scheme

Grade / Grade grading scheme

Position in the curriculum

  • Master's degree programme Media, Communications & Culture (SKZ: 841, Version: 20W.1)
    • Subject: Kultur (Compulsory subject)
      • 4.2 Cultural Studies und Medien ( 0.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
        • 180.564 Are humans ready to be the future robots? Research and citizenship in a post-Internet society (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
          Absolvierung im 1., 2., 3. Semester empfohlen
  • Master's degree programme Media, Communications & Culture (SKZ: 841, Version: 09W.1)
    • Subject: Medien- und Kommunikationsforschung (Compulsory subject)
      • Seminar ( 4.0h SE / 12.0 ECTS)
        • 180.564 Are humans ready to be the future robots? Research and citizenship in a post-Internet society (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
  • Master's degree programme Media, Communications & Culture (SKZ: 841, Version: 09W.1)
    • Subject: Cultural Studies und Medien (Compulsory elective)
      • Seminar ( 2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)
        • 180.564 Are humans ready to be the future robots? Research and citizenship in a post-Internet society (2.0h SE / 6.0 ECTS)

Equivalent courses for counting the examination attempts

This course is not assigned to a sequence of equivalent courses