Harman Academy for Polymathic Study, DML 241

While autonomy is a feature of much organic life, it is perhaps the defining feature of human existence. It is also, however, a distinguishing facet of much recent technology; a new cohort of artificially intelligent machines, systems, and agents that operate increasingly without human intervention. The most conspicuous examples include driverless automobiles, autonomous weapons, social media bots, assistive robots, and devices comprising the Internet of Things. But all algorithmically-automated systems with which we now engage are self-governing to a degree. In what ways might the increased autonomy of these systems affect our own agency? How might our use of such systems impact how we function as humans? Or how we see ourselves as human? How might they alter our dynamics with each other?

Join us for a day of discussion about our past, present, and future relationship with autonomous technologies. In a series of panels, faculty from computer science, engineering, robotics, the humanities, and the social sciences will reflect on the applications, ethics, and history of these systems.

QUADRANT SERIES with EDWIN McCANN, Professor of Philosophy and English

The ACADEMY FOR POLYMATHIC STUDY guides its inquiries through four flexible pathways or QUADRANTS: (1) critical and integrative thinking; (2) study of the polymaths; (3) the tapestry of knowledge; and (4) communication. In order to explicate these quadrants more fully, USC professor EDWIN McCANN conducts conversational workshops from a philosophical, historical, and practical point of view. Attendance at sessions covering all four quadrants is required for certification as an Academy fellow.

 

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What the deep fake is going on?  The word deepfake combines the terms “deep learning” and “fake,” and is a subset of AI. There are useful sides to this developing technology to be sure.  But with the democratization of technology, anyone, yes anyone, can access the myriad deepfake apps available (even at Walmart) and tutorials on YouTube to create a video of a person doing or saying anything the creator wants.  Just as fast as technology develops to detect deepfakes and protect machine learning for beneficial purposes, malevolent techy actors...

Facial Recognition technology is a “sprawling, invisible, privacy-wrecking surveillance system built by tech companies, global militaries, law enforcement, commercial interests, and a secretive array of data brokers.” What is there to worry about?  We are pleased to have two of the foremost scholars on facial recognition engage our polymaths in discussion on the historical racial lineages, contemporary realities, and future developments of one of the most concerning biometric sciences.

From the gaze of the eye to the slightest gesture of a fingertip, body movements convey who we are.  Today, a new generation of machine learning based systems makes it possible, the science claims, to detect human body language directly from images, which includes languages of identity, gender, age, and emotion. This emerging tech of the computational perspective of the body—a most basic human/machine interfacing—engenders important polymathic queries:  How does pose detection technology enhance the human experience?  Is there anything lost when we technologize...

Join the Harman Academy and the Department of Anthropology in celebrating the launch of Professor Tok Thompson's new book, Posthuman Folklore! There will be a discussion about the book, with copies available for purchase. Tok Thompson will be available for book signings, and refreshments will be provided. This event is open to all, with no RSVP required.