Schlecht gealtert: Joseph Weizenbaums "Die Macht der Computer und die Ohnmacht der Vernunft" (1976/78)

Joseph Weizenbaum (1923-2008), in Berlin geboren, war durch die Nazis gezwungen, mit seiner jüdischen Familie aus Deutschland zu fliehen. Am MIT in Boston wurde er seit den 1960er-Jahren ein renommierter KI-Forscher. Er ist bis heute nicht nur als ein Pionier der Forschung zur Künstlichen Intelligenz anerkannt, sondern vor allem als ein streitbarer Kritiker der Computerkultur. Sein Buch "Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgement to Calculation" ist ein Klassiker der Technik- und Wissenschaftskritik, ja der Kritik an der technischen und naturwissenschaftlichen Moderne überhaupt. Es ist aber besonders der Titel der deutschen Ausgabe, der mit seiner Dichotomisierung von Macht und Ohnmacht, Computer und Vernunft die These des selbsterklärten "Dissidenten" oder "Ketzers" der Informatik eingängig auf den Punkt bringt. Und das Zitat auf der Umschlagrückseite verortet das Buch auch gleich im Feld der Kritischen Theorie Max Horkheimers, auf den Weizenbaum sich explizit bezieht: "Ich bekämpfe den Imperialismus der instrumentellen Vernunft, nicht die Vernunft an sich.

Ingeniørdannelse. Kva har danning i teknologifag å gjera?

Etter rammeplanen for ingeniørfag, er ingeniørdannelse ein viktig del av dataingeniørstudiet. Dette har vore eit utfordrande krav, for kva er eigentleg ingeniørdanning? Der er skrive mykje om danning innanfor didaktikk og utdanningsfilosofi, men knapt noko om ingeniørdanning, som me må venta skal vera noko anna enn den generelle danninga og meir konkret for fagdisiplinen vår. Det er synd dersom fagre visjonar om samfunnsansvar, samarbeid, etikk og respekt for andre fagdisiplinar vert reduserte til ullent formulerte «soft skills». Difor er det verd å søkja eit vitskapleg fundament for det danningsinnhaldet som rammeplanen krev. Dette kan me finna ved å støtta oss til dels på den danningsteoretiske tradisjonen (spesielt Kemp og Humboldt) og til dels på tenkjarar og metodeteoretikarar innanfor vårt eige fag (særleg Simon og Weizenbaum)

Artificial Intelligence (and Christianity) : Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How?

Open Access via the Sage AgreementPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Robotics in Germany and Japan

This book comprehends an intercultural and interdisciplinary framework including current research fields like Roboethics, Hermeneutics of Technologies, Technology Assessment, Robotics in Japanese Popular Culture and Music Robots. Contributions on cultural interrelations, technical visions and essays are rounding out the content of this book

Development of a dialogue-orientated character with voice control for mobile devices

Diese Bachelorarbeit erläutert das Vorgehen bei der Erstellung einer Applikation für mobile Endgeräte, die einen dialogorientierten 3D-Charakter darstellt, der auf die Eingaben des Benutzers reagiert. Erläutert wird hierbei auch die historische Entwicklung der Mensch-Maschinen-Kommunikation. Darauf folgt ein Überblick über die, im Bereich der mobilen Endgeräte verfügbare, Hard- und Software sowie deren Architektur. Weitere Teile befassen sich mit den in der Applikation genutzten, selbst erstellten Methoden zur Textanalyse und Antwortgenerierung, sowie der Kombination aller Komponenten zu einem Endprodukt.The bachelor thesis at hand illustrates the procedure of generating an application for mobile devices. This application is of a dialogue-orientated 3D-character and reacts to the input of the users. In addition, the historical development of humans machinecommunication is illustrated. After that a survey of hard- and software available for the mobile devices as well as their architecture is given. Further parts of the thesis deal with the self-generated methods of text analysis and answer-generation as well as the combination of these components to create an end product

Anti-computing

We live in a moment of high anxiety around digital transformation. Computers are blamed for generating toxic forms of culture and ways of life. Once part of future imaginaries that were optimistic or even utopian, today there is a sense that things have turned out very differently. Anti-computing is widespread. This book seeks to understand its cultural and material logics, its forms, and its operations. Anti-Computing critically investigates forgotten histories of dissent – moments when the imposition of computational technologies, logics, techniques, imaginaries, utopias have been questioned, disputed, or refused. It asks why dissent is forgotten and how - under what circumstances - it revives. Constituting an engagement with media archaeology/medium theory and working through a series of case studies, this book is compelling reading for scholars in digital media, literary, cultural history, digital humanities and associated fields at all levels

A review of Elizabeth Wilson’s Affect and Artificial Intelligence

Wilson’s book is of great interest to readers of the biographical history of computer science and, more importantly, humanities scholars who would like to explore how emotions influence the works of early pioneers amongst AI theoreticians and engineers. However, I present three areas where the book can improve: engaging with affective computing, acculturation of emotion, and organization of biographical data

Anti-computing

Anti-computing explores forgotten histories and contemporary forms of dissent – moments when the imposition of computational technologies, logics, techniques, imaginaries, utopias have been questioned, disputed, or refused. It also asks why these moments tend to be forgotten. What is it about computational capitalism that means we live so much in the present? What has this to do with computational logics and practices themselves? This book addresses these issues through a critical engagement with media archaeology and medium theory and by way of a series of original studies; exploring Hannah Arendt and early automation anxiety, witnessing and the database, Two Cultures from the inside out, bot fear, singularity and/as science fiction. Finally, it returns to remap long-standing concerns against new forms of dissent, hostility, and automation anxiety, producing a distant reading of contemporary hostility.At once an acute response to urgent concerns around toxic digital cultures, an accounting with media archaeology as a mode of medium theory, and a series of original and methodologically fluid case studies, this book crosses an interdisciplinary research field including cultural studies, media studies, medium studies, critical theory, literary and science fiction studies, media archaeology, medium theory, cultural history, technology history