EDP cultures group 4

I honestly really enjoyed reading The Stories of Ibis way more than Techgnosis.  I consider my reading/comprehension skills a bit subpar so the best way for me to understand what's happening throughout books is to actually be engaged with the story line and have an actual desire for wanting to know what's going to happen next.  I also will choose fiction over non-fiction because I enjoy creating my own pictures and scenes in my head, rather than just strictly reading information to learn about things.  The best parts of this book that really caught my attention were when the settings took place in these virtual video game worlds and everything was basically a simulation.  I found myself really engaged with these parts because I'm a heavy gamer myself, so when I read about fiction and video games at the same time, it's easier for me to create my own stories in my head and enjoy what I'm reading more.   Prior to this class, I have never really thought deeply...

As I reflect on the quarter. I realize I have grown to view technology from an anthropological perspective. It makes  me think back to to the fist day of class when we watched videos of YouTube from an anthropological perspective. Also, reading Techgnosis allowed me to pair history with technology in an interesting way rather than the just looking at the history of technology. I've been able dive further into how technology influences the mind within this class as well. As a communications major, organizational communication across society has become increasingly interesting to me because this class pairs so well with my organizational communication classes about what messages are sent to the masses and how to make those messages succeed. This is my biggest takeaway from this class and I hope to apply this information and analysis to my career. I've become more passionate about technoculture. Personally, I enjoyed Techgnosis more than Ibis. Although the Stories of Ibis was an...

a) I liked this book much more than I liked Techgnosis. I think that one of the most prominent arguments - that fiction is somehow less 'true' or valuable than nonfiction - is illustrated perfectly. The premise is so interesting, hearing fictional stories from a fictional character in a fictional book. This is juxtaposed nicely with Davis's approach, citing countless historical, scientific and factual people, places and ideas. Both books give us a sense of wonder and simultaneous excitement and, possibly, some fear, when it comes to the future of humanity as well as technology. The made up characters provide a different insight to what could be, in my opinion seriously mirroring a Black Mirror type approach. This is oftentimes more entertaining and easier to digest. b) This class was particularly interesting in and of itself because I came in with no expectations. I had never taken an EDPX course before but, as it was cross listed with an MFJS course, I figured I would gi...

The final story in  The Stories of Ibis  is perhaps the most important story in the novel as it ties all the other fictional stories with the overall narrative and establishes the overarching theme of the book.  The Stories of Ibis  really seems to be about the consciousness of artificial intelligence, our relationship with new forms of technology and the inability to both accept our demise as well as the consequences of the choices we make on a societal level. Yamamoto seems to point to artificial intelligence as mimicking our emotional patterns to dissuade extreme circumstances, which is evident in Ibis’s revelation that robots allowed humans to steal from their cargo trains. AI haven't changed their objectives but have shifted their perspectives of human behavior in order to better serve their “masters”. AI’s role as servants seems allegorical to biblical symbols of servitude towards others, demonstrating that perhaps fear and selfishness are what separate people...

"The Day Shion Came" explores the nature of consciousness and the various forces that impact its development. Shion's ability to develop a sense of self-awareness brings up the question of what parts of the mind must be emulated or taken into account when creating realistic artificial intelligence that will accomplish its goals as concisely as possible. Shion's evolution throughout the story demonstrates how self-awareness can alter the behaviors an AI may choose to exhibit, especially in the case of an AI that seeks to relieve emotional human suffering. When AI are given broad goals like protecting humanity from harm, it becomes very difficult for them to act when they realize that humans are some of the greatest dangers to themselves and each other. This seems to go along with the theme of storytelling being a tool that reveals truths about human nature as separate from historical doctrine. AI no longer make decisions based purely on the desire to provide physical ...

Yamamoto’s The Stories of Ibis, “Story 6” is a continuity of the positive looks at technoculture and the development of artificial intelligence.   Beyond that, I see a thread throughout these stories that points out aspects of humanity and the self through the person’s interaction with AI.   The idea that technology has this reflective nature shines through when Kanbara says, “Where did this baseless fear that robots would attack humans come from?   Why were there so many stories about robots and humans fighting? Did they only exist because that was how mankind had always lived?   Did we simply see ourselves in these humanoid machines?   Were we not simply afraid of our own reflections?” (267).   The suspicion towards Artificial Intelligence isn’t about the threat of AI, but rather points out that humans may have this violent, dominating nature that they project on their humanoid robots. This story also brings up ethical questions regarding the creation...

This  story was particularly striking because there was a lot a depth due to the length. The overarching theme of a robot's ability to empathize or simply feel emotion seemed to be the background antagonist of the story. On one hand, it would be ideal if the robot could emphatize because it would be an ideal caregiver. On the other, machines with abilities to feel are daunting because we cross into a territory where machines can become more demanding and passionate; which could lead to the machine takeover that so many sci-fi stories pose as the worst thing that could happen to us. Personally, the advancement of AI is both fascinating and weird. fascinating because I'm growing up in a time of rapid advancement,  and weird because AI just feels like an imitation of human interaction. But, I don't think the goal of AI is to imitate human abilities and interactions, but to exceed those abilities. That was another aspect of the story, was how Shion moves were flowy and seemed m...

Your house, containing everything you own, catches fire. After saving your loved ones and pets, you have time to safely make a final dash to save any one item. What would it be? Why?” I would grab my  watch. My watch is very important to me because I am very concerned with time and the watch is inherited to me from my family. My watch is silver because it complimented my grandmother's warm undertones in her skin. The watch has since been passed down the family. I couldn't imagine loosing it because it is the most important jewelry in my family. It would be hard for me  to decide whether to grab my wedding ring or my watch, but ultimately I would grab the watch because it is so significant to my family.  Family lineage means everything to me because I don't see my family often as I live far away. I bury myself in my work and never have time to spend with them. I cherish the material aspects of my family because I can't spend time with them. My husband is the same way. ...

This story was different from the previous stories because Yamamoto made the virtual worlds seem like the real world, and the real world seem like the virtual world.  I found it pretty cool when he introduced "The First World" term because I honestly thought that it was just some made up idea/world that everyone in the virtual world put into their heads just so they have something to live for and to make their lives more interesting.  However, it actually ended up being the world where real humans live and the place where the other virtual worlds were born or "sim" worlds.  Throughout this entire book, I feel that Yamamoto embraces the idea of living in virtual worlds, especially in this chapter.  Once everyone in the real world started to die from the influenza virus, Yamamoto wrote the rest of the chapter to make us readers feel the need to embrace the virtual world and the AI controlled systems for these virtual worlds.  He put the idea in my mind that the vi...

Hey, my name is Iron Man and I'm the lead weapons engineer and weapons trainer here at this facility.  I used to be able to go out and neutralize the trouble makers around the city, but I lost my left leg and arm on a mission and that's why my job now is to develop weapons for these younger guys and teach them how to use them effectively.  I really miss being the hero in this city and being in the spotlight these past 20 years, however, now it's time for our city to find some new and younger talent. In my last interview, someone asked me about the next deadly weapon that I've been working on.  Proudly, I can finally say that I've reached the final stages of development for it.  This rig is called the Fat Man 2000 or Fat Man 2k for short.  It's embedded in the standard suit and only holds one shot, so it can only be used once and is usually used for the final blow to finish off weakened bosses.  Fragments of the Fat Man 2k are stored in various places thro...

Throughout  The Stories of Ibis , Yamamoto's descriptions of virtual worlds have always seemed to be alluded to as hedonistic forms of escape, so I was surprised to find the message of this story portray the virtual realm as a protective cage for future consciousness. The saddest part of the chapter arose from Saika's realization and subsequent curiosity of her virtual relationship with reality as a realm outside the one she has always known. Saeko may have lied to protect Saika's awareness, but in the same way a parent would lie to their child that "everything is going to be okay." The situation could be seen as reminiscent of how a parent may choose to send their child to a safer location even if they must stay behind in a disease-stricken or war-torn country. The child knows they will grow up in a safer environment but realizes it comes at the cost of real lives that will become disconnected from their actual futures. In a way, the story is a grim explanation o...

My Father led me through the large metallic doors, and the soundscape of heavy machinery and clanking metal grew louder.   I could hear conveyor belts, drilling, lots of moving parts, and very little human voices.   It was if I had been directed into a new realm separate from humanity.   My understanding of factories was only through games in the Dream Park, and those had only been a cartoony version.   “Wait here,” my Father whispered in my ear.   I had only seen pictures of the assistive bots on the MUGEN NET, and I had heard stories from the kids at school.   They only seemed to bring it up around me because of my condition.   I didn’t really like the attention.   These assistive bots had been a topic of discussion in the news for five/six years now, but their development began twenty some years ago by Geodyne, the leader in robot technology.   It wasn’t until now that they decided to release some prototypes due to smoothing out danger...

Mary slowly boards the automated bus the second the sleek white doors folded open. She used to habitually greet the driver each time, but now no one sat in the driver seat. Instead, a large electronic extension from the head board printed red digital messages that informed the passengers of their next stop. "NUROTECH OFFICES, SHIBUYA" flashed across the text display next to various other symbols and electronic images showing the geographical mapping of the route and the status of the bus's internal systems. It took around thirty minutes until she arrived at a massive, slightly cylindrical and somewhat rectangular building. She had prepared what she would tell her ex-boss after her recent firing but was worried that she would be forced to take the issue to court if her plans didn't turn out as she had hoped. After being a part of the artificial intelligence development department for about three years, being let go due to the potential for AI to conduct their own rese...

Batman represents a reliance on wealth, physical strength and obsessive passion. He is shaped less by the presence of loving, doting parents and strong family ties and more on the prospect of independence. He is charming and persuasive in an incredibly 'masculine' manner, living out his adulthood by expertly handling bad guys in the fictional Gotham City.  While I admire and relate to aspects of his commitment to justice, I can recognize differences in the two of us not just in gender, age, and socioeconomic status but noticeably in demeanor as well as circumstance. I don't identify as a particularly brave person, and have never really identified with any classic 'hero'. I also attribute much of my growth to my relationships with my parents and my reliance on family. "Glass shatters suddenly and two costumed men come tumbling through the window. As one darts off, the larger one stands tall. He is costumed in a mask and cape, a symbol of strength, prowess, a...

- Larger contexts for me throughout this chapter actually play into the presentation I am planning to give. Yamamoto delves into humanity versus technology and part of that, at least for me, is the sensation of emotion. The story centers around this robot that can only be described as 'sweet', a trope we are by no means used to seeing. Shion isn't under any false pretenses, however. She is well aware that she is a robot, which brings up many questions about 'souls'. I am under the impression that all things have a soul, living or nonliving. I believe it is particularly narcissistic  for humans to assert that they are above all other beings and are the only ones privy to a soul. Furthermore, we are bound by human language and understanding, so why would we think we are intelligent enough to even comprehend the weight of another being's soul or experience? - This particular chapter reminded me of an article I plan on utilizing in my presentation (https://www.te...

If I'm honest, this story didn't resonate with me as much as the others. I liked how they tied the ideas about living in a simulation and being disconnected from other worlds. Often I feel like I'm in an opposite world than others in  the sense that I have no idea what their experience is line; to further overuse the cliche; I haven't walked in their shoes. There are many people I can relate to in my circle; but being in college puts me in a social bubble where I feel as though my other friends or other people who aren't family are in other worlds. I get so immersed in my work that I don't even realize that I'm isolated from a lot of people.The DU bubble may come from the university being on the smaller side; but I would speculate that a lot of college students can relate. Social media gives me a glance into these metaphorical worlds. Sometimes I log onto Facebook or Instagram and realize that some of my high school friends are married with children. That i...

I wasn't a fan of this particular story and, instead, the intermission resonated much more readily with me. It was so interesting seeing the storyteller being misgendered by a robot as that is such a prominent facet of our society today. There remain such strict gender roles in place, and many citizens are overjoyed or simply content with overzealously advertising their gender. There is also a strong presence of 'policing' anyone who deviates from these strict roles. There is also, however, a likely much smaller portion of people who are either bending these rules themselves or are supportive and okay with others doing so. The concept of misgendering someone is simultaneously a legitimate issue that more accepting people consciously try to avoid as well as a meme that less accepting groups use in tandem with conversations of 'snowflakes' and 'safe spaces'. It makes sense, though, that in an existence void of gender it would be impossible to tell the differen...

I think Intermission Five and especially Story Five of The Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto begin to argue or cover the validity of virtual worlds and the online identities of the non-human.  When Saika uploaded a version of herself in Highschool to a world in which heroes exist and monsters attack, she stayed in contact with this virtual self and they grew to become good friends.  For Saika in the virtual world, her reality is just as real as someone in the “First World”.  She goes to school, has friends, and rides the train to get around.  There are limits and differences that separate from the reality of the human world.  Saika always feels the urge to not go any further on the train, the bathrooms serve no purpose, people are recognized as extras, and on a larger scale there are people with super power abilities who battle monsters.  All these seem just as much of a reality as someone who functions in the “First World”.  It makes me wonder what...

Yamamoto covers deeper aspects of human psychology with a focus on how humans develop both personal connections and feelings of loneliness during periods of exploration in their lives. In the intermission, the Storyteller asks why Ibis has such a meticulously designed exterior as to give an impression of humanity despite what her functions entail. Although the Storyteller understands the appearance is artificial, he can’t help but feel a soul is present in her when he sees her. People often empathize with animals and creatures who bear characteristics that are similar or magnified versions of human characteristics, such as large eyes in dogs and cats. Characteristics that seem far from the spectrum of human traits can create unsettling feelings and responses, such as the many legs of spiders or the large compound eyes of flies. In Story 4, Yamamoto uses a large artificially-intelligent satellite-like structure as a character pondering human emotions of loneliness and desires for expre...

Through intermission four and story four, Yamamoto begins to look at the relationship between humans and humanoids and their similarities and differences.   This begins with the story teller noticing how humanistic Ibis appears and how she is sexually attractive.   The storyteller asks why she looks like an attractive human woman, and her response is she’s appeared that way sense birth.   He goes on to ask why she hasn’t changed her appearance, and her response puts into light a new way of thinking about AI.   She claims, “’Consciousness is inextricably tied to the senses.   Since an AI without a body feels no bodily sensations, a consciousness cannot be born.   In order to acquire a consciousness similar to that of humans, we need to have human bodies, the same instincts, and the same senses as humans” (123-124).   This is an interesting point.   A key part of Ibis’ identity is her physical appearance and furthermore a change in this physical a...

A topic I may be interested in for these next couple of weeks is whether or not it's possible to program AI to have human-like emotions.  In story 4, Illianthos was programmed to not have any emotions, yet towards the end of the chapter Yamamoto made us question ourselves whether he actually did start to feel some type of emotion, even if it was just the slightest bit.  Also, in story 3 Shalice was programmed to not have any emotions too, but Strong Eye was intentionally programmed to have emotions.  This is a fictional story, but what if we can eventually do this in real life and one day AIs emotions will be so realistic that humans will actually start to consider them as humans, or maybe even generate some sort of feelings towards them.  Throughout the stories that we've read, the AIs learned by feedback loops.  They keep talking to real humans and overtime they start to understand how humans think and start to develop their own human-like thoughts.  Ev...

I am looking into fabricated experiences for my final presentation. This chapters solidified my interest because it was very speculative and portrayed how far the human race will go to soul search. The concept of soul searching has always interested me because there is a lot that humans are collectively afraid of; and we soul search in the hopes that there will be something to fulfill all the voids within our lives. Fulfilling the soul is an age old tale. I could take a mystified philosophical approach by comparing philosophical literature to Yamamoto's ideas from this story. From a pop culture perspective, it is becoming easier to market envy because we always social media to make us wish we were somewhere we weren't. This increase may lead people in the direction to go on philosphical soul search because all they pay attention yo is what others are doing. Another idea I had was inspired by singularity hub. Here's the link: https://singularityhub.com/2018/05/09/holograms-...

Mirror Girl  seems to be the hopeful peak of the development of artificial intelligence, but it most likely comes right before the breakdown and revolution by machines alluded to in earlier portions of  The Stories of Ibis . The idea that an algorithm which can calculate patterns in empathy and human relationships and act on such information seems slightly unsettling as it shows emotional behavior as predictable and formulaic. The inspiring aspect of the story is the fact that the intelligence desires to do good for the world and develop meaningful connections. The film  E.T. seems very thematically similar to "Mirror Girl," as it illustrated a unique connection with a nonhuman being and a relationship that was dependent on empathy and new ways of communicating. Another media source that can easily be considered hopeful or optimistic is the fantasy/adventure/comedy film  The Princess Bride . Both the Mirror Girl itself and the film  The Princess Bride ...

I think I would like to focus my presentation and final paper on something very integral to my personal paradigm - the development and meaning of emotions. I am particularly interested in the ways in which humans experience emotion, particularly the words, colors and physical implications we associate with emotions. I practice compassion cultivation, which is a combination of neuroscience and meditation meant to develop ones ability to feel compassion. The idea is that this emotion functions like a muscle and the more we use it the easier it becomes to feel compassion. It is backed by the Stanford School of Medicine as well as the Dalai Lama, and is integral in my relationship with my mother. Emotion is also a significant theme throughout our reading, one I felt most strongly in the "Mirror Girl" story. The development of Shalice, and her eventual ability to understand and fully integrate into Sami's life, is an arc that can also be seen in the storyteller's relat...

The "Mirror Girl" story was very profound because it was an allegory for our attachments to materialized technology. For example, my mom still uses the CD's she burned because she is attached to the memories that come with them and the music she uploaded. Also on the same note of music technology, the novelty of collecting vinyls reemerging is another example of attachments to material technology. Shalice was a representation of how far this attachment could go; and how much we invest in our devices. Shalice being so attached to Yasami reminded me of the tamagotchi. Asami took care of Shalice and was able to move and grow with her. I feel if you were to somehow mix a barbie and a tamagotchi, you get Shalice. She provided the same comfort of being the same gender  in the same way that barbies are marketed to little girls. Also I was reminded of the genie of the mirror in snow white. In my opion, this was a mystified version of that because Shalice was so reliant on Asami....

I think using AI to make our lives easier is super cool but a little scary at the same time.  It’s crazy to think that as each generation passes, each generation basically lives differently as technology keeps producing better services for them.  So right now we live in a pretty technological society but it could be nothing compared to how our grandchildren and great grandchildren will live. Maybe AI will eventually take over the society and everything will be AI based, who knows?  People may say that if everything is AI based, then will people actually experience real world experiences or are we just going to be living in a virtual world where humans are inferior to AI and AI basically runs the world instead of humans?  Well, if that’s the case then thats just another example of how life changes as generations pass. It’s not that they’re going to be cheated since AI will probably end up doing anything and everything for them, that’s just how life will be for them....

As this book continues, it appears to be a case for a technology brought utopic future while based in a reality set against a more dystopic singularity-based future.   As Ibis’ intentions are unclear still, it is hard to tell if there is a darker motive behind these optimistic sci-fi pieces.   Story three specifically exemplifies the hope and possibility that the invention of Artificial Intelligence presents through the humanization of basic level artificial intelligence.   The ending quote says it all: “The era of machines coexisting with humans was just around the corner” (119).   But the fear of singularity remains an underlying theme throughout this story.   In the world outside of story three, humans and AI don’t coexist with each other, and the truth remains that the story tellers is to some degree a prisoner to machines.   Even in the story, there are concerns of technology and Magic Mirror making Asami and other users disconnected from reality and...

a) Optimistic media: Black Mirror's 'San Junipero' (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/on-demand/2017/09/16/san-junipero-revisited-black-mirrors-heartbreaking-vision-heaven/). This is one of the only 'optimistic' Black Mirror episodes to date, the only one with a really happy ending and the only one to have won an award. It details two women, paralyzed physically instead of socially, but still struggling like Sami. The women are living through an AI program designed to transport users to any point in time and can choose to live the rest of their days inside the simulation in happiness. Life-Size (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life-Size). Life-Size represents a similar story of childhood toys gaining sentience. It deals with similar struggles of understanding and accepting the human-like characteristics given to an integral aspect of childhood. Both toys, a Barbie doll played by Tyra Banks and Shalice, serve as aids in helping the young girls in each story overcome the ...

1. We are remixing the swine flu outbreak of 2009 via the spread of Jersey Shore. We chose this event because it was largely swept under the rug and hasn't been talked about much since. There were also undeniable parallels between the two events and we felt it couldn't be ignored. 2. It is probably even more applicable today. The spread of information is equally or more viral, refreshed in the means of technology that have cropped up even since 2009. Information can be circulated quickly and with ease nowadays. 3. We started by looking through a timeline of historical events ranging from the 1990's to present day. We each bounced ideas off of each other from the recession to natural disasters. We settled on the swine flu outbreak when we realized that Jersey Shore premiered in the same year and the viral spread was apparent in both. 4. The event in this scenario is taking place in the Jersey Shore, but the effects of the 'virus' are felt nationwide. 5. The o...

My own experience with virtual relationships is different because I prefer to interact with others in person. I have friends online and I find that they are more fleeting than my real friends because there isn't a lot that keeps us together. For example, I've met friends online that live across the country, and we run out of things to talk to because we essentially just update each other on our lives. I've never developed a romantic relationship online,but I would assume that it would be difficult to trust one another. To reference my midterm presentation, the TV show Catfish shows the capabilities of deception within romantic relationships that only exist online. I think that will always be a fear with our generation,and it will be interesting to see how the next generation will approach cyberspace relationships because they were born in a virtually social world, and may be less likely to be afraid of all the deceptions within a virtual reality. 1) the jumanji movie: The ...

My virtual space relationships with my friends started in middle school when I got an Xbox 360.  We would play CoD MW2 every single day and night, and when we were all on talking to each other in the party, I honestly felt as if they were right beside me in my house playing with me.  Eventually we started to hang out more in school and pretty much connected over the fact that we always played video games with each other. Till this day, I am still really close with all of them. Although we don't really hang out much since we all went our separate ways and don't even live in the same state as each other anymore, any time we are all playing League or Fortnite or whatever game, it still feels like nothing has changed between us, and I'm sure that when we all meet up one day outside of this virtual online space, we will all feel the same way towards each other.  It's actually pretty cool how video games can form life-long friend ships, and that's why virtual spaces whe...

Virtual social environments and forms of digital communication were developed as tools to help maintain real-world relationships but, in many cases, have acted as replacement mediators. I view virtual spaces such as the Internet, social media and messaging applications purely as tools, so the ability to communicate doesn't really change for me. I feel slightly more comfortable with online communication due to the fact that I can take the time to calculate my messages and responses to other people. However, I still am aware of what the messages I send imply and convey and that they are still displaying a message to another person, so online communication cannot totally provide me the comfort to say whatever I wish. When it comes to virtual social environments like the one in Virtual Romance in Space , the comfort that communication tools provide often blend reality with virtual reality. The way the world is described in this story often illustrates how the virtual world is so vivi...

As I am not an active social media user or virtual connoisseur, I don’t always see my virtual spaces necessarily playing a role in my relationships and crossing over in to my real entities.   There are some minor areas that I do notice.   For example, video games are a common pass time amongst many of my friends, and this is a means of bonding and spending time with each other.   Through a common goal, video games bring people together and bring out characteristics otherwise unseen in reality just as it does the same for the characters in Dream Park.   I feel this isn’t always the case with certain social medias.   With both Twitter and Facebook (I joined a month ago), I see social media putting a strain on relationships.   These mediums add extra social constructs and rules that can regulate a person’s interactions with others.   At least in some of my experiences, social media calls for acceptance from an outside/removed community through the const...