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Class number:
3395
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Title: AI, Sci-Fi, and Society |
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Department: First Year Sem & Colloq |
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Career: Undergraduate |
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Component: Seminar |
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Session: Regular |
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Instructor's Permission Required: Yes |
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Grading Basis: Graded |
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Units: 1.00 |
| Enrollment limited to 16 |
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Current enrollment: 16 |
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Available seats: 0 |
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Start date: Tuesday, September 8, 2026 |
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End date: Wednesday, December 23, 2026 |
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Mode of Instruction: In Person |
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Schedule: TR: 9:25AM-10:40AM, MECC - 270 |
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Instructor(s): Comert, Hasan |
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Prerequisite(s): Only first-year students are eligible to enroll in this class. |
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Distribution Requirement: Meets FirstYr Seminar Requirement |
Course Description:
This seminar explores the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI) from a historical and evolutionary perspective, with attention to the economic motives and incentives behind developments in AI technology. We then examine the possible economic, social, and ethical impacts and dilemmas of artificial intelligence (AI) from different angles. The course benefits from science fiction (films, novels, and short stories). We will screen several films in class, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Her, The Terminator, and The Machine, and assign additional films to be watched outside of class. We will pair these with fiction, including Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot, E. M. Forster’s “The Machine Stops,” and Ken MacLeod’s Beyond the Hallowed Sky, as well as carefully selected news and short, accessible readings on artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML). |