Link #1
Summary & Reflection
I connected to Eric’s post partially because this is one of my favorite stories! I enjoyed how Eric used the connections and character descriptions in the story. While my post for the emoji story was not as in-depth as his, I found the use of certain emojis, such as arrows, to be very beneficial to the storyline’s progression. Of my other peers’ emoji stories, I was only able to find answers to a few, and Eric’s was one of them. When looking at Eric’s reflection, I agree with his assertion that both text and images have a place and use. Still, the room for interpretation in images may be more difficult when used as the primary means of communication. And I also liked what he shared about how an image’s worth can change when used in a scenario where a word-based description may take 2 times longer than a simple image. It made me think, as Eric also mentions, how the combination of all sensory input is used in communication. Things like auditory and aromatic influences can also help us, as humans, communicate and have deeper experiences.
Link #2
Summary & Reflection
I was drawn to Jason’s mode-bending assignment as it was not a way I would think about items in a bag at all. I appreciated the presentation used in both table and pie chart forms. It helped me see the items differently from the original photo in task 1. To compare his and mine, I had no visual component to mine, just simply auditory, with ambient noises as well as the sounds that all of the items make. It was supplemented by the initial photo from the previous tasks, but does it have a visual representation in data form? I would agree with his assertion that the context behind a kg measurement is hard to interpret without the context being given, which makes me wonder how the data could be represented in a more universal way. Clothing size isn’t universal, nor are shoe, hat, or glove sizes, and all these things depend on the necessity of the items’ heaviness or lightness for the given task. I enjoyed seeing how other people use different modes to show items and how they interpret information and deem what is important using different criteria.
Link #3
Summary & Reflection
I was drawn to Samuel’s writing because of how neat and organized his handwriting was. He addressed the strain from the hyper-focused contrilled technique he used and mentioned how typing didn’t cause the same strain. When reassessing my experience completing the same task, I didn’t find the same amount of strain. I think, in comparison, without knowing any specific details about Samuel’s daily habits and writing tendencies, I write things down almost daily and am an avid journaler. I found it interesting that he mentioned typing was more natural and fluid for him, letting him get thoughts out and express things more easily with the help of the tech integrated into the process. I find the opposite. For me, to get words out faster, a pen to paper was always something that came naturally to me. Now, seeing as we differ on the preferred mode of writing, I wonder what makes handwriting or typing more appealing to a person? Is it the configuration and formatting or the fluidity of the experience? Does the definition of “time-consuming” differ based on skill and proficiency with either medium? All of these things were what I thought about when reading through Samuel’s post.
Link#4
Summary & Reflection
When I was reading through Ellie’s curation and her justification for her selections, I really liked seeing how she determined them. I think we used a similar justification when selecting tracks. However, I do think we were initially more based on the emotional response to tracks, whereas I was more focused on maximizing the diversity of the tracks. We both, on both an emotional and practical level, chose to increase the payoff for having only 10 slots. I agree with and appreciate the reference she used from Brown University, which addressed how decision-making is not neutral. I was worried about the whole selection process, about excluding one option or the other, because of the way it is so easy to exclude a group in the name of inclusion or preservation for another group. The subjectivity of this exercise, something Ellie notes as well, is very evident given the small number of tracks to select from. I still really wonder how we would look at adding music and data now if we sent something into space.
Brown University. (2017, July 11). Abby Smith Rumsey: “Digital memory: What can we afford to lose?” [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FBrahqg9ZMc
Link #5
Summary & Reflection
When I saw Mark’s post, I was drawn in by the similarities in how we communicated with the AI for our prompts. I, too, asked Copiolt to generate a future image of a place; however, my location was significantly less explicit and easier to reference than his. When explaining his prompt and the resulting images, he noted how impressed he was with the generated images and how the AI must have been trained well. I think that, for his image and why it was arguably more successful than mine, the available resources for developing a city are plentiful, whereas a classroom in a school is more difficult and much more diverse. Not to mention that science, specifically, may prompt it to look into genres like science fiction for inspiration when generating images. It was a bit comical to see, in both our images from later years, the use of hover tech and near-comical evidence of that futuristic sci-fi aesthetic. I think that in both of ours, there are many factors that are still not being considered, such as natural resources, multicultural impact (more so in mine), and training sources for AI. It was interesting to read through Mark’s post and see the differences and similarities that can come from using AI for image generation.
Link #6
Summary & Reflection
When reading through Sophia’s assignment response, I, too, shared some of her thoughts. I found the AI’s writing very reminiscent of other things I have read. The “cinematic” nature of it was definitely one part that brought to mind other AI writing I have seen, as well as the one I generated with AI. Not only were we familiar with the common tropes and descriptors in the text, but the AI would also need training data, as Sophia mentioned. Another part I found that connected our thoughts on this was the discussion of the future in Harari’s article. The shift we need to find in how we think about the future and technology’s role in it is important. Is it going to be a tough adaptation to a more sustainable, functional, community-based society, or is it one of doom and gloom, like the template the AI used? As Sophis mentioned in her post about the connection to more subtle emotions, it made me think about how we express and display emotion through media or unperson- how much does the media affect a person’s response to emotion- is it something we have grown too accustomed to performing? Could you share a full idea or picture of someone? How can the use of this technology be impacting this, and what strides can be taken to assess and change these responses, essentially programming at the hands of mass media consumption? Can we have technology without consuming media, and what would that future look like?