Link #5: Speculative Futures – Liana Ranallo

by markpepe

Liana’s Speculative Futures Task

Wow! I absolutely loved Liana’s work on this task the video of both dystopian and utopian futures were very engaging. I also have to mention her vocal performance where she used tones and inflections to contrast the two possible futures.

Using the video format was very captivating because it allowed for the viewer to be briefly in that futuristic world. The visuals aided in seeing the dark bleak dystopian future contrasted by the bright heavenly future. The music also provides contrast of both worlds, dark timbres with most pitches being used in the lower register for dystopian, and bright timbres and middle to higher ranged pitches being used for utopian. Is there a key? Hard to say, I would say the harmonies are ambiguous  on purpose to create an ambience. Overall, video is a very efficient way to convey ideas and feelings for this assignment because a large amount of information is expressed using that medium. Comparing it to my task of attempting to write a narrative which was a lot of work. A writer has to convey those contrasting ideas and feeling using only text. Visuals and aural dimensions aid in world building.

I couldn’t help but think of Apple’s advertisement for the Macintosh back in 1984, see below:

The monitoring devices that Liana speaks of are already here since research in artificial intelligence in education is being more active. Yu & Lu (2021) survey research in education using artificial intelligence. “Smart watches are used to monitor the behaviours of students in the classroom (raising hands, taking notes, etc.) to effectively predict and intervene in students’ learning” (p. 175). They also mention research in the use of “facial recognition technology to investigate the emotional state of learners in the learning process” (p. 175). Furthermore, they speak of the adoption of neuroscience and eventual human-machine integration that are still in their infancy.

This task was fascinating because it allowed us to be creative using the current state of our world and technology to speculate on our future.

Reference

  • Yu, S, & Lu, Y. (2021). Introduction to artificial intelligence in education. Springer.