This course began with a question: what
is the impact of the Internet on society, and what is that impact likely
to be in the future? This question is deceptively simple.
It is fairly easy to recount the history of the Internet after the fact.
Only a decade ago, however, only a few visionaries had any idea of what
the Internet was likely to become. Anticipating what it will be in
the future is also difficult There are certain methods which futurists
use that may be helpful, and we reviewed those methods, although their
success in the past has been limited.
We have approached the problem in several
different ways:
-
we briefly reviewed the history of the Internet
-
we looked at studies of social change (Fukuyama,
generational analysis) to get a perspective on how society is changing
-
we learned more about how the Internet actually
works, by learning how to post WEB pages and use hyperlinks, and by exploring
the WEB for our Internet Diaries
-
we reviewed the history of Artificial Intelligence,
to get some understanding of how the programs at the cutting edge of computer
technology today work
-
we turned to the metaphysics of thought - the
fundamental logic of digital thinking - for insight into how artificial
thought is likely to evolve in the future and
-
we reviewed the theories of chaos and complexity
which have developed as scientists struggle to understand phenomena that
cannot be fitted into deterministic models, but can be modeled with computer
simulation
-
in the remainder of the course we will do two
things:
-
examine a number of proposals and visions of
the future of the Internet and computer technology (including the Webmind
project, but also several others). This will require some technical
material, e.g., an understanding of object-oriented programming
-
look at current and future developments in specific
application areas, and speculations about the future.. Your projects
will focus mostly on specific applications, and I hope to draw on them
for classroom presentation. Some examples:
-
evolutionary
algorithms are being applied to architecture
-
archetypal
myths are the themes of computer games
-
rule-based
AI is being used to generate creative advertising slogans.
-
quantum
theory is being used to encrypt email corresondence
-
Networking
Theory is being used to Map the entire WEB
-
Many other examples of cutting edge technology
can be found in the NY Times's weekly What's
Next column or in their columns on specific topics such as game
theory, education,
commerce,
the arts,
and law.
There are always interesting stories on the Times' Technology
Page and on their Science/Health
Page. You can link to stories
you find from links on these pages to illustrate your outlines, due
on October 29, and your final projects which
will cover the same material. If you find a story through a "Search"
on the Times, however, you cannot link to that address as it is temporary
- the only solution is to highlight the whole story with the mouse, copy
it into the clipboard, paste it into a new blank page, and save it on your
own site.
At this point, our priority is to review for
the midterm exam next week. We best do this by looking at the review
questions and the lecture
outlines.