Assignments

Grades will be based on the following assignments: 3 short papers (including the midterm) in various genres, 3-5 pages long (45% of final grade).  All papers must be printed and handed in. Late papers will be accepted within one week of due date. Papers may be rewritten and corrected for a higher grade. Topics and specific guidelines will be circulated prior to due date.

1 longer, research assignment, 6-8 pages long, including citations and works cited page, using MLA format. (15% of final grade). This paper will be built on a previous paper. The student will have the option of incorporating a multimedia component as part of this project.

Attendance and class participation are essential and excessive absences may affect the final grade. Class presentation. Each student must make a class presentation on their recent work. This should also be a written document, notes, list of bullet points; it can also be a short multi-media presentation. (10%)

Final Exam:  in class essay, finals week, at the end of the semester (30% of final grade)

 

INSTRUCTIONS for 6-page Research paper. Due December 12.

Write a brief review of 3 of the articles we read in class. Discuss briefly the source of each—you will have to check the website’s “About” section.

Use the following MLA type Works Cited format. When you quote from the article, use parentheses in that paragraph naming the author and the date of the article.

 

Works cited

Drum, Kevin. “You Will Lose Your Job to a Robot.” Mother Jones. Nov Dec. 20

Larsen, Christina.   “Closing the Factory Door.” Foreign Policy. July 1, 2018

McClosky, Deidre Nansen. “Myth of Technological Unemployment.” Reason Aug 1 2017.

Metz, Cade. “We Teach A.I. Systems Everything, Including Our Biases.” New York Times, Nov. 11, 2019. (This article is optional. You can also do your own research and discuss another article, but you must discuss the 3 above)

 

 

Discuss the following and how each article looks at the problem. You should also include your own reflection on the problem and your plans for the future.

Hypothesis 1: AI will eventually take over all human jobs and work activities.

Hypothesis 2: AI will not eventually take over all human jogs and work activities.

Consider each hypothesis in terms of a. the optimistic view of human ability to shape the future; and b. the pessimistic view of the human ability to shape the future.   Which view do you hold? Will advancing technology enhance prosperity for human beings or will it create a dystopia of mass unemployment and social disorder?

Review of each article should give a summary of the author’s main point/thesis and arguments supporting that thesis. A comparison and contrast to the other articles. You can start with Drum. Discuss Drum’s “narrative arc” and how that arc creates a frame for human understanding of the future.

What is AI? How does it work? What is the “mathematical” argument for total AI taking over all human work. Cause and effect of AI on jobs. How will this affect low wage jobs vs high wage jobs. Also the “non-technological” professions, medicine, law, and accounting. How do these professions maintain high income and status in society? Include a personal reflection on your education and future career; what you are doing in response to advance of technology?

U.B.I. as a solution to the problem of income inequality, and the trend of the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. Additional possible remedies to this problem including raising the minimum wage. Or is it ok to let the poor simply get poorer? Compare Larsen, 2018, on this question. Also, McCloskey—what would she say about government mandated minimum wage vs free market wage.

What are the main “take-aways” from each article? Give your agreement or disagreement with the main points or support arguments for each article. Write your articles in a way that explains it to a friend or relative in your age group.