Readings

The readings for this week are:

Trolling / Anonymity

1. 545: If You Don't Have Anything Nice to Say, SAY IT IN ALL CAPS

   • What happened when I confronted my cruellest troll

   • The Imminent Death of the Internet Troll

   • Trolls Are Winning the Internet, Technologists Say

2. "That life is over": Zoe Quinn looks beyond GamerGate

   • The death of the "gamers" and the women who "killed" them

   • Anita Sarkeesian goes on Colbert. You'll totally believe what happens next

   • Gamergate Goons Can Scream All They Want, But They Can't Stop Progress

   • GamerGate's Archvillain Is Really A Trolling Sketch Comedian

3. “Repugnant” online discussions are not illegal thoughtcrime, court rules

   • Reddit cracks down on abuse as CEO apologizes for trolling the trolls

   • New and improved "block user" feature in your inbox.

4. A New Harassment Policy for Twitter

   • The Existential Crisis of Public Life Online

   • Why I've Stopped Reading Twitter Mentions

   • This researcher programmed bots to fight racism on Twitter. It worked.

5. How to Stop the Bullies

   • Cyberbullying in the workplace: 'I became paranoid'

   • Melania Trump picks her cause if she’s First Lady: Cyberbullying

   • Who Spewed That Abuse? Anonymous Yik Yak App Isn’t Telling

6. The Real Name Fallacy

   • Google Plus Finally Gives Up on Its Ineffective, Dangerous Real-Name Policy

   • In-Depth: Why Was Blizzard's 'Real ID' Such An Issue? Exclusive

   • Facebook is changing the way it enforces its real name policy

   • Changes to Facebook's "Real Names" Policy Still Don't Fix the Problem

Intelligence

1. What is artificial intelligence?

   • Rise of the Machines

   • Debunking the biggest myths about artificial intelligence

2. How Google's AlphaGo Beat a Go World Champion

   • Is AlphaGo Really Such a Big Deal?

   • How Google Plans to Solve Artificial Intelligence

   • Computer Wins on 'Jeopardy!': Trivial, It's Not

   • When Computers Started Beating Chess Champions

   • The fraudulent claims made by IBM about Watson and AI.

3. Computing Machinery and Intelligence

   • Searle: Minds, brains, and programs

   • The truth about the Turing Test

   • Do Feelings Compute? If Not, The Turing Test Doesn't Mean Much

   • The Turing Test Is Not What You Think It Is

4. 2015 : What do you think about machines that think?

   • Don't Be A Chauvinist About Thinking

   • Machines That Think? NUTS

   • Beyond "The Uncanny Valley"

5. Beneficial Artificial Intelligence (context)

   • Some scientists fear superintelligent machiens could pose a threat to humanity

   • AI will create 'useless class' of human, predicts bestselling historian/

   • Let’s Stop Freaking Out About Artificial Intelligence

Questions

Please write a response to one of the following questions:

1. From the readings and from your experience, what exactly is trolling? How does this behavior manifest itself and what are its causes and effects?

   • What ethical or moral obligations do technology companies have in regards to preventing or suppressing online harassment (such as trolling or stalking)?

   • What do you make of Gamergate? Is this evidence of the dangers of anonymity on the Internet or is this behavior something we simply need to tolerate in order to maintain freedom of expression?

   • Is anonymity on the Internet a blessing or a curse? Are "real name" policies useful or harmful in combating online abuse?

   • Is trolling a major problem on the Internet? What is your approach to handling trolls? Are you a troll?!?!?

2. From the readings, what is artificial intelligence and how is it similar or different from what you consider to be human intelligence?

   • Are AlphaGo, Deep Blue, and Watson proof of the viability of artificial intelligence or are they just interesting tricks or gimmicks?

   • Is the Turing Test a valid measure of intelligence or is the Chinese Room a good counter argument?

   • Are the growing concerns over the power of artificial intelligence and its role in our lives warranted? Are you worried about the potential dangers imposed by artificial intelligence? Explain why or why not.

   • Finally, could a computing system ever be considered a mind? Are humans just biological computers? What are the ethical implications are either idea?

Feedback

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the course, please provide your feedback at the end of your response.