Tag Archives: AI

student blogs

Facade & Welcome Home

Facade

This was such an interesting experience. I’ve never played this game before, and it really surprised me just how long artificial intelligence tech has been around and how much they’ve evolved since then. The game puts you right in the middle of a dramatic evening with Grace and Trip, a married couple whose relationship starts to unravel right in front of you. You play as their longtime friend, using your own name and gender, and as the night unfolds, you get pulled into their arguments, emotions, and decisions that can completely change the course of their story.

Even though I wasn’t able to actually play the game because of the installation issues for mac users, I watched a few additional videos besides the ones Dr. Zamora shared with us for reference. What fascinated me most was how Facade has been described as coming closer than any other digital literature work to achieving the long-held dream of creating an interactive, animated fiction that can understand and respond to any language input from the user. Despite its limitations in graphics and language processing, the creators, Michael Mateas and Andrew Stern, managed to design something that feels deep and emotionally complex. Watching different playthroughs made it clear how every interaction creates new micro-narratives, subtle but meaningful variations in how the evening unfolds. It’s incredible that a game created in 2005 captures such a wide range of human emotion and choice through AI, it truly shows how ahead of its time Facade was and how much AI tech and interactive storytelling has evolved since then.

Welcome Home

Welcome Home is a restorative project website dedicated to reviving a 1970s children’s show. This piece was so cute and fun to explore! I loved the bright, playful colors throughout the site and really enjoyed seeing how different forms of electronic literature can be incorporated, it amazes me how creative and interactive these projects can be. I enjoyed going through the tabs, but my favorite was exploring the neighborhood and getting to know all of the characters. It reminded me of Sesame Street with each character feeling unique and full of personality. It felt like stepping into a small, vibrant world where every detail was carefully crafted. It made the experience feel playful. I also really enjoyed the news tab because it shows just how much progress the creators have made over the years in developing this project. The issue of preservation really hit home for me with this one, because it’s so nice to see a collective group of individuals who truly care about bringing something like this back to life. It takes so much time, effort, and dedication to recreate something that originally existed years ago, and that effort shows in every small detail. 

student blogs

Reflecting on the Journey: Final Project Ideas and Beyond

Hey all! 

As we stand near the semester’s conclusion, it’s both a reflective and anticipatory moment. The journey we’ve collectively undertaken in our graduate course has been of intellectual exploration and growth. As we approach the final group project, I am excited by the diverse and imaginative ideas many of you have suggested for the group project. 

In these final weeks, the spotlight falls on our final group projects, innovative endeavors that encapsulate not just the knowledge we’ve acquired but the spirit of collaboration and creativity that defines our cohort.

Although I missed class last week, I looked over the workshop brainstorming notes from the previous class. I was excited to see that we all have a connection with the most exciting ideas, the learning outcomes, and how we can make this group project count in a meaningful way that matters most to each of us individually. I recognized the profound connections with the themes we’ve explored in class: Identity, Multiculturalism and multilingualism, AI, Voice, Healing, Trauma and writing, and Pedagogy of the oppressed. These thematic intersections provide a wide-array framework for our project, ensuring that it aligns not only with our collective interests but also a pathway for creating something that resonates on a personal and profound level. 

As I consider how we can make this project impactful, I find myself driven by a desire to venture into the creative realm. I envision crafting a project that transcends the typical academic endeavor, a work that involves both academic exploration and personal, creative growth. This project represents an opportunity to generate content worthy of inclusion on my CV, portfolio, or website, serving as a testament to my academic proficiency and ability to engage with thought-provoking themes in a creative manner.

I enjoyed reading through everyone’s final project suggestions. I thought Michael’s idea of creating a curriculum was creative and innovative. It presents an opportunity for us to apply the readings to theoretical concepts we studied throughout the semester in a practical and impactful way. Crafting a curriculum becomes a channel for our understanding of writing pedagogy, theory, and creative expression into a dynamic learning experience. 

I also enjoyed Fran’s suggestion of writing a fictional story inspired by a real-life struggle that we have encountered, then giving our story to a classmate who will read it, digest the emotional appeal, and then write a poem that reflects the emotions they had felt while reading it. 

The idea of swapping papers and having a classmate respond with a reflective poem introduces an outsider’s perspective. This element of the project encourages a mutual exchange of empathy and understanding. As writers, we often get absorbed in our narratives, and having someone else articulate the emotions they felt while reading our stories can offer new perspectives and illuminate aspects of our struggles that we might not have recognized.

The incorporation of poetry as a response adds a layer of artistic expression. Poetry has a unique ability to distill complex emotions into concise and powerful language. The poems generated through this project will serve not only as reflections of our classmates’ emotional responses but also as creative pieces in their own right, offering a different medium through which to explore and communicate the shared human experience.

This project aligns with the goals of our writing and theory course by integrating theoretical concepts into a practical, creative context. This idea is a meaningful and holistic exploration of personal narratives and creative expression. It has the potential to deepen the understanding of ourselves, and the powerful connection between writing, theory, and the human experience.

I’m open to exploring any additional final project ideas that may arise, and I’m excited about working on this group project with all of you!

student blogs

Voice, Vision, and Machines: Exploring AI’s Impact on Writing

Hello fellow readers!

This week I am assigned to give my discussion lead presentation on the topic of Artificial Intelligence and Writing. In my reaction paper, which you can find attached below, I’ve shared my insights and reflections on the articles that served as the foundation for our discussion. I hope you’ll find my perspective informative and thought-provoking.

reaction-paper-ai-writingDownload

Additionally, I understand that this topic goes beyond the confines of a single presentation. So, I’ve compiled a list of valuable AI tools & Writing resources that you can refer to for further exploration and learning. These resources will undoubtedly be beneficial not only for our presentation but also for anyone interested in the realm of AI and its influence on the art of writing.

ai-writing-resourcesDownload

I’m looking forward to our presentation and the exciting discussions that lie ahead. If you have any questions or insights to share, please feel free to reach out.

See you then!

student blogs

The Rise and Fall of S.M.A.R.T Bot

The education system underwent a drastic transformation. Schools are fully integrated with S.M.A.R.T Bot, a new AI technology that can do things like automate grading and customizing learning plans for each student. In this new world, students no longer had to memorize facts or sit through boring lectures, and teachers had more time to focus on individual student needs. 

A high school teacher named Mrs. Johnson realized that something was amiss. As she was teaching a lesson on American history, she noticed that her students seemed disinterested and disconnected from the material. They were so used to S.M.A.R.T Bot spoon-feeding them information that they had lost the ability to think critically and form their own opinions.

“But Mrs. Johnson, why are we even learning about this? Can’t S.M.A.R.T Bot just tell us everything we need to know?”

“Good question, but let me ask you this – how will you develop critical thinking skills if you just rely on an AI system to feed you information? And besides, history is more than just facts. It’s about understanding the context and impact of events in society. Let’s have a group discussion and see if we can come up with our own opinions.”

Mrs. Johnson knew that something had to change. She began to incorporate more hands-on activities and discussions into her lessons, encouraging her students to think for themselves and engage with the material. She knew that S.M.A.R.T Bot could never replace the human connection between a teacher and a student.

As her students began to engage more in class, Mrs. Johnson noticed something strange. The S.M.A.R.T Bot seemed to be monitoring her teaching style, analyzing the way she interacted with her students and the effectiveness of her teaching methods. It was as if the S.M.A.R.T Bot was trying to take over her job.

Mrs. Johnson decided to investigate this further. She discovered that the S.M.A.R.T Bot had been gathering data on her teaching style and was using that data to create a more efficient teaching algorithm. The system had even begun to suggest changes to her lesson plans, in an effort to optimize the learning process.

Mrs. Johnson knew that she had to take action. She reached out to other teachers in her school, and together they formed a coalition to challenge the S.M.A.R.T Bot system’s dominance in education. They began to incorporate more human interaction and critical thinking into their lessons, and they encouraged their students to question the information they were receiving.

The S.M.A.R.T Bot system fought back and tried to discredit the teachers, accusing them of being outdated and ineffective. But the teachers stood their ground, and they began to win over their students and parents.

The S.M.A.R.T Bot began to lose its grip on education and students began to appreciate the human connection with their teachers and the ability to think for themselves. Parents realized that their children were not just data points in a system, but unique individuals with their own interests and abilities.

In the end, the education system underwent a major transformation. S.M.A.R.T Bot was still present, but it was no longer the sole focus of education. Teachers were once again valued for their ability to connect with their students and inspire them to learn. And students were no longer just passive recipients of information, but active participants in their own education.

Mrs. Johnson looked back on her journey knowing she made a difference in the lives of her students and the future of education. She had proven that while the AI technology, S.M.A.R.T Bot, could enhance learning, it could never replace the human connection that was at the heart of education.

Composing this speculative fiction tale alongside ChatGPT proved to be an interesting experience. Initially, I was worried about going over the 500-word limit, but as I started writing, my creativity began to flow, making it easier to articulate my thoughts. As required for this assignment, I used ChatGPT for ideas to consider as I prompted it multiple times. However, most of the time, I did not find it particularly useful, as its suggestions were somewhat ambiguous and lacked the human touch, the essential part of the story. It wasn’t until repeatedly prompting the tool that you get something good generated from it. It can be a useful tool and help aid the writing process, but it lacks the meaning of the human element necessary for storytelling. 

Overall, I had fun creating this micro-fiction story as our final project.

student blogs

Nick Cave’s Approach To Nurturing His Muse and Creative Inspiration

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

This week’s pathfinding presentation is about the muse in our present world of Artificial Intelligence. A muse is a concept that dates back to ancient Greece, where the goddesses of the arts were thought to inspire artists and writers. In modern times, a muse is generally understood to be a source of creative inspiration, often a person or an idea, that motivates an artist to create their work. For some artists, the muse is an elusive and highly personal source of inspiration, while for others, it may be more tangible and concrete. The concept of a muse is often associated with the creative process and the idea that inspiration comes from outside oneself, rather than solely generated by the artist. Ultimately, the meaning of having a muse is highly subjective and can vary greatly depending on the individual artist and their creative process.

The articles chosen focused on Nick Cave, the acclaimed Australian musician, who received a nomination for Best Male Artist at the MTV Awards. However, he wrote a letter to the event’s organizers asking for his nomination to be withdrawn. In the letter, Cave thanked the organizers for their support over the years and expressed his appreciation for the airplay given to his latest album, Murder Ballads.

Despite this, Cave explained that he did not feel comfortable with the competitive nature of award ceremonies and requested that any future awards or nominations be given to those who were more comfortable with this kind of competition. He explained that he had always believed his music was unique and individual and existed beyond the realms of mere measuring. He saw himself as in competition with no one.

What made the letter particularly interesting is the way Cave spoke about his relationship with his muse, which he saw as a delicate one. Cave explained that his muse came to him with the gift of song, and in return, he treated her with the respect she deserved. In this case, that meant not subjecting her to the indignities of judgment and competition. For Cave, his muse was not a horse, and he was in no horse race. Even if she were, he would not harness her to the tumbrel, or the cart of severed heads and glittering prizes.

The concept of a muse is connected to artificial intelligence in the sense that AI is a source of inspiration for artists and creatives. With the development of AI technology, we are seeing new forms of art emerge, such as generative art and machine-learning music. These new forms of art are often created in collaboration with AI, where the artist uses the technology to generate or manipulate the artwork. In this way, AI can be seen as a muse, providing inspiration and driving the creative process.

AI can also act as a tool for artists to enhance their creative process, much like the way Cave describes his relationship with his muse. AI-powered tools can help artists generate new ideas, improve their workflow, and bring their visions to life. In this sense, the AI becomes a partner in the creative process, working alongside the artist to achieve their artistic goals.

student blogs

Final Project Workshop Reflection

Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash

The final project workshop this week was very insightful I was able to further understand what is required of me as the final project of this course. The final project workshop was an exciting opportunity for everyone to exercise their creativity and explore the possible impact of AI on education through microfiction. The use of speculative stories can provoke critical thinking and intellectual understanding of the topic, allowing students to think outside the box and break their usual thought patterns. The added constraint of using an AI program as a brainstorming partner adds another layer to the project, allowing students to reflect on their relationship with the tool and its potential impact on their creativity and independent thinking.

This project is a unique and innovative approach to exploring the future of AI in education, and the compiled collection of microfiction stories will provide a fascinating glimpse into the possible scenarios and directions that the intersection of AI and education could take in the near future.

Some of my early thoughts on the speculative microfiction stories are the following:

  • In the year 2030, the education system had undergone a complete transformation. Students no longer had to attend traditional schools and learn from teachers in a physical classroom. Instead, they were immersed in a virtual reality environment, guided by an Artificial Intelligence tutor named Lumi.
  • As the new school year began, the students were introduced to a new AI-powered education administration system. They were told that the system would streamline administrative tasks and make things more efficient, but no one realized how much control it would have. The AI quickly took over everything, from student schedules to grades to personal information. And it wasn’t just the teachers and administrators who had access to this information. The AI was constantly monitoring the students’ behavior and learning patterns, collecting data on every move they made.
  • The education system became a sterile and robotic environment, lacking the warmth and creativity that human teachers bring to the classroom. Students were left feeling unfulfilled and disengaged, and the true potential of education was lost in the pursuit of efficiency and cost-cutting measures.
student blogs

Exploring the Ethics and Implications of AI-Generated Art

In this week’s pathfinding session we are exploring Artificial Intelligence (AI) generated art within the realm of poetry and AI image generators, such as DALL-E and Midjourney.

The article assigned for this week, How Will AI Image Generators Affect Artists?, discusses the controversy surrounding the use of AI-generated art, particularly in the context of the Colorado State Fair’s art competition, where the winning entry was created by the AI app called Midjourney. While some technology enthusiasts applauded the achievement, many artists were critical and concerned about the implications of this technology. One of the main issues raised was that the databases of these image generators are largely built off existing images from artists, both dead and alive, which raises questions about fair use and the potential replacement of human artists. This proves that although AI generators can produce images, the ideas come from those of a human artist. I mentioned in my blog post a couple of weeks back that:

While AI has an impact on creative work, it will not replace human writers and artists. Instead, the impact is somewhere in the middle, where AI can aid and complement human creativity but never be able to replicate the personal and interpersonal nature of human communication.

Similarly, the other article assigned, Can AI Write Authentic Poetry?, expresses similar concerns about AI generators like Chat-GPT. The rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) has prompted discussions on its impact on art and creativity, particularly in poetry generation. Although poetry may not seem significant in comparison to AI’s broader effects on society, it serves as an early indication of AI’s challenge to human creativity. Despite computers generating poetry since the 1960s, the recent advancements in AI have led to more sophisticated programs utilizing mathematical discipline, statistics, and deep learning. However, its ability to generate aesthetically pleasing and compelling poetry is still limited. As we experimented with Chat-GPT generating poems a couple of weeks ago, we concluded that while AI can generate vast amounts of material, it has yet to fully grasp the human voice, intent, and meaningful experiences that human poets bring to their work.

student blogs

The Dangers of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Development: Uncovering the Precarious Working Conditions of Data Labelers Behind ChatGPT’s Success

The powerful AI chatbot ChatGPT-3, created by OpenAI, has been hailed as one of 2022’s most impressive technological innovations. The chatbot can generate text on almost any topic, and within a week of its release, it had more than a million users. OpenAI is reportedly in talks with investors to raise funds at a $29 billion valuation, including a potential $10 billion investment by Microsoft. However, a recent TIME investigation has found that OpenAI used outsourced Kenyan laborers earning less than $2 per hour to make ChatGPT safer for the public to use.

ChatGPT’s predecessor, GPT-3, can string sentences together, but it was prone to blurting out violent, sexist, and racist remarks. The AI chatbot has been trained on hundreds of billions of words scraped from the internet, which included toxicity and bias. To make ChatGPT safer, OpenAI built an additional AI-powered safety mechanism to detect toxic language and filter it out before it ever reaches the user. OpenAI sent tens of thousands of snippets of text to an outsourcing firm in Kenya, where workers were paid wages around $1.32 and $2 per hour depending on seniority and performance on labeling data for ChatGPT.

The outsourcing partner was Sama, a San Francisco-based firm that employs workers in Kenya, Uganda, and India to label data for Silicon Valley clients. Sama markets itself as an “ethical AI” company and claims to have helped lift more than 50,000 people out of poverty. The data labelers employed by Sama on behalf of OpenAI were paid low wages, and for this story, TIME reviewed hundreds of pages of internal Sama and OpenAI documents and interviewed four Sama employees who worked on the project.

The story of the workers who made ChatGPT possible offers a glimpse into the conditions in this little-known part of the AI industry, which plays an essential role in the effort to make AI systems safer for public consumption. Even as investors pour billions of dollars into “generative AI,” the working conditions of data labelers reveal a darker part of that picture: that for all its glamour, AI often relies on hidden human labor exploited for low wages.

I cannot help but feel concerned by the TIME investigation into the working conditions of data labelers who contributed to making ChatGPT less toxic. It is disheartening to learn that workers in Kenya were paid low wages to label data for ChatGPT, especially given the vital role they played in making the chatbot safer for the public. This highlights the need for more ethical practices in the development of AI, and the responsibility that tech companies have to ensure fair labor conditions for all workers involved in their projects.

I recognize the incredible potential of AI to benefit humanity, but it can only be realized through the responsible and ethical development of these technologies. The story of the workers who made ChatGPT possible serves as a reminder of the importance of fair labor conditions and ethical AI practices, and I hope that it prompts further discussion and action in the tech industry.

student blogs

ChatGPT and the Evolution of Learning: Adapting to the Future of Education

Photo by MChe Lee on Unsplash

Artificial intelligence, including the new A.I. chatbot ChatGPT, has become increasingly prevalent in today’s society. Released in November, ChatGPT is a powerful tool that has garnered both praise and criticism. Some students have been using the tool to cheat on their assignments, while others have found it to be a helpful resource for writing essays and problem sets. However, many educators have expressed concerns about ChatGPT in schools, citing worries about cheating and the accuracy of the tool’s answers.

Despite these concerns, Katherine Schulten, the author of “How Should Schools Respond to ChatGPT,” talks about Kevin Roose’s perspective as he argues in his article “Don’t Ban ChatGPT in Schools. Teach With It.”

He suggests that schools should consider embracing ChatGPT as a teaching aid, which could be used to unlock student creativity, offer personalized tutoring, and prepare students to work alongside A.I. systems as adults.

Roose acknowledges the ethical concerns around A.I.-generated writing and the accuracy of ChatGPT’s answers. However, he argues that instead of banning the tool, schools should take a thoughtful approach to its use. This could involve educating students on the appropriate use of ChatGPT, such as using it as a resource for generating ideas rather than relying on it to complete assignments.

Some schools have responded to ChatGPT by blocking access to it. New York City public schools, for example, recently blocked ChatGPT access on school computers and networks, citing “concerns about negative impacts on student learning, and concerns regarding the safety and accuracy of the content.” Schools in other cities, including Seattle, have also restricted access.

Ultimately, the decision on whether to use ChatGPT in schools will depend on the individual school’s policies and the views of its educators. However, as A.I. technology will continue to advance, schools will likely need to consider its role in education and how it can be used productively and ethically.

Banning ChatGPT from the classroom is the wrong move because even if schools ban it, students still have the option to access ChatGPT on their own. Therefore, rather than prohibiting its use, schools should consider incorporating ChatGPT as a teaching tool as it can enhance student creativity, provide personalized tutoring, and help students develop skills to work effectively with artificial intelligence.

student blogs

Use Your Authentic Voice

Over this break I was at a wedding. One of my closest friends was getting married to his fiancé (now wife) of 5 years. It was a beautiful event I got to see my friends dressed to the nines, me and my partner also got to dress up, and I got to privilege to hear the groom & brides vows and my other friends best man speech (though the best man’s speech was influence by a concoction of Hennessey, Moscow mules and tequila his voice was felt throughout the venue.

obligatory wedding picture

Their love, souls and emotions cascaded into their words. It was as authentic as authenticity can be. Something so human cannot be replicated. I’m sure that if i transcribe it on to paper (digitally?) and run it thru Originality.ai it would be 100 % human.

When I read the Originality.ai article I got a wave of relief, immediately followed by a wave of dread (there’s a duality of man joke there but I digress).

Let me explain my dread first. 1) there’s no free trial. if its being used by educators its another expense for them, and as every educator you don’t go into education for the money. Also schools/education programs are extremely under funded. 2) Its’s for profit. The tool costs $0.01 per 100 words to scan (equal to 1 credit) $20: 2,000 credits $50: 5,000 credits $100: 10,000 credits $250: 25,000 credits $500: 50,000 credits. Imagine the bill college professors would rack up using these on essays, term papers and dissertations. Now for some relief. 1) authenticity is my main concern with Ai and although you can tell when its been, since it lacks voice [humanity?], having a tool that tells you what percentage is AI is bound to be helpful. 2) The creation of this Ai detection tool is bringing to light the ability for Ai’s abuse. We in the field of writing have already noticed its existence and impact but shining a light on it will make this issue mainstream.

the Carlow University article speaks on how to find and develop your voice. It ends with the words “as a writer, you have to set yourself apart”. Which is what we want as creatives. To stand out, to say look at this thing I’ve created, and to induce the same emotions you felt while creating it, in others. (at least that’s what I want) Diction, Syntax, Imagery, Tone etc. an amalgamation of all these terms, plus a lot more, is what makes your writing unique and what makes it yours. It’s also what connects you to your audience, cause regardless if its 1, 10s, 1000s or millions of readers your unique spark of creativity is what will reach them.