Journal Entry 14: Yamamoto: Intermission 7 - Epilogue (Sara Loughran)

I really liked this book, significantly more than Techgnosis. They both addressed many aspects of technology and digital culture, but The Stories of Ibis accomplished it better, in my opinion. Techgnosis was less organized and just hard to follow, and it wasn't presented in an intriguing was the way The Stories of Ibis was. I feel like I've thought more about AI because of this book, and consequently have sought out more content about AI and robots because of it. Recently, a game came out called Detroit: Become Human, which addresses many similar topics to The Stories of Ibis and is about androids, their ability to feel emotions and have free will, and the question of whether they deserve the same rights as humans or not. It has really made me think about the topic more and has actually made me feel more positively towards AI while before I was somewhat skeptical.

I came into this course a little apprehensively, as I was afraid it was going to be too complicated for me to understand because it involves technology as well as creativity in a way that has always been a struggle for me to completely grasp. But I was actually really pleasantly surprised, and this has ended up being one of my favorite classes and has really made me think about things I wouldn't have if I hadn't taken it. I think that technoculture is such a broad and complex topic that involves tons of different ideas, concepts, and topics, which is why it seemed daunting to me. I understand technology pretty well and I'm pretty quick at picking up how to use new technologies and learn about them (I'm a kinesthetic learner and I basically learn just from messing around with something and figuring out how to use it just from that), but some of the deeper and more complex concepts I struggle with. And I've always known about AI, but just sort of had an indifferent attitude about it. Now I find myself actively interested in these topics and wanting to explore them more, hopefully in other classes or jobs I take on.