SCP 50 Representations of Artificial Intelligence in Film, Spring 2006

Instructor:		Samir Chopra
Office:			1214 Ingersoll Hall
Mailbox:		2109 Ingersoll Hall
Email:			schopra@sci.brooklyn.cuny.edu  
Phone:		718.951.5000 (x2044)
Class Meetings: 	Tuesday 6:20 - 9 PM (3407 Boylan)
Office hours:		Tuesday 5 PM - 6 PM (or by appointment)

Exceptions to Class Schedule: We will not meet on February 21st, March 28th, April 25th, April 27th.
Description

A historical and philosophical take on the representation of computers and artificial intelligence in Hollywood through the ages. We will analyze these cinematic depictions for their reflections of their specific historical, socio-economic milieu and for their positioning on philosophical issues related to the possibility of artificial intelligence and the nature of science. The course follows a historical path, beginning with post-World War II movies and ending with current productions. 
Besides meditations on fear of science, morality, and the nature of humanity, we will analyze the philosophical issues about the models of mind these movies assume. Is the problem of phenomenal experience by computers unsolvable? Is embodied/situated cognition is the right paradigm for AI? What do these movies think distinguishes human intelligence (if anything) from machine intelligence? Is it coherent to speak of a ‘cinematic take’ on artificial intelligence, which may be opposed to the views held by the philosophical and technical communities of artificial intelligence researchers? What are the movies’ takes on intentionality, desire, autonomy, personal identity and simulated intelligence? Are concerns about artificial intelligence just cover-ups for phobia about alternative life-forms (or cultures or nationalities)? 

Course Requirements

Attendance and Participation: 30% of the final grade 
Paper Assignments: 70% of the final grade 
Assignment #1 (10%): Review and analysis of movie chosen from class list
Assignment #2 (10%): Review and analysis of movie not on class list
Assignment #3: (20%) Analytical Philosophy Essay  
Assignment #4: (30%) Research Paper on ‘Representations of AI in Cinema’

	Your last paper will be due on the day of the scheduled final exam. (Monday May 23rd)  

	For writing assignments 1 and 2, you will have two weeks to work on your answers. Writing assignment 3 will be assigned 3 weeks. Assignment 4 is a semester long project. If you experience any difficulty with the questions, come and talk to me. I will not accept late assignments. Do not ask me for extensions.  I do not accept emailed assignments. All papers must be handed to me in person or left in my mailbox if you cannot attend class on the day the paper is due. 

	There will be no 'extra-credit' assignments. You can resubmit one paper for a regrading; the grade you receive on the regraded paper will replace the original. 

Film List: 
If you think a movie should be on this list, let me know. You are responsible for arranging and viewing movies. Rental sources include local video stores, Blockbuster, Netflix and Kims Video (in Manhattan).   
	Forbidden Planet (1956)  
	Alphaville (1965)  
	A Space Odyssey (1968)   
	Colossus: The Forbin Project (1969)  
	Westworld (1973)  
	Dark Star (1974)  
	The Demon Seed (1977)
	Android (1982)  
	Bladerunner (1982)  
	Tron (1982)  
	War Games (1983)
	Superman III (1983)
	Lawnmower man (1992)
	Ghost in the Shell (1996)  
Blackboard Discussion Forums

We will use discussion forums on Blackboard for online discussions on the movies. Every student must write weekly on Blackboard with a comment on the week’s movie. This is mandatory,  and will count towards your attendance and participation grade. 

Required Textbooks and Readings

Per Schelde, Androids, Humanoids, and Other Science Fiction Monsters: Science and Soul in Science Fiction Films, NYU Press, 1993. ISBN: 0814779301

Patricia S. Warrick, The Cybernetic Imagination in Science Fiction, MIT Press, 1980, ISBN: 0-262-73061-8

Some copies of the book are available at Shakespeare (on Hillel Place); others can be obtained at amazon.com (used copies are available at good prices). A course packet of readings is available at Far Better Copies. Each week, I will assign a movie. After watching the movie, go to imdb.com and read a couple of reviews. But first, make notes on the movie so that you can develop your own analysis. Read these and the assigned readings. Every week, we will discuss a) the movie itself b) reviews and essays on the movie and c) how the movie illustrates the philosophical issue discussed in the reading. 

AI Topics
The following are the topics we will cover, along with a few relevant readings.  
1.History of AI: a brief examination of the history of computing relevant to AI.  Read:  Alan Turing, 'Computing Machinery and Intelligence'. This classic paper appeared in 1950 and may be found at: http://cogprints.org/499/00/turing.html 

2.AI Projects. For an example of one of modern AI’s achievements check out IBM’s Deep Blue: <http://www.research.ibm.com/deepblue/>. For a discussion following Deep-Blue’s over Kasparov, look at slate.msn.com/id/3650/, and www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/entertainment/jan-june97/big_blue_5-12.html. Another opinion is ftp.cs.yale.edu/pub/mcdermott/papers/deepblue.txt. 

3.The relationship between thought and consciousness; the Turing test and responses to it. Read: Ned Block, ‘Psychologism and behaviorism’,:   www.nyu.edu/gsas/dept/philo/faculty/block/papers/Psychologism.htm

4.The computer model of mind. Read: Tim Crane, The Mechanical Mind, A philosophical introduction to minds, machines and mental representations, Routledge, London, 1995.  (Chapters 3 and 4).

5.The problems with AI. Reading: Daniel Dennett, ‘Cognitive Wheels: The Frame Problem of AI’, in Z.W Pylyshyn, The Robot’s Dilemma, Ablex Publishing, Norwood, 1987 AND Hubert Dreyfus, What Computers Still Can’t Do, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1992. John McCarthy, Defending AI Research (CSLI Publications, Stanford, 1996).  Essays #s 5,8,9,10,12,13 (each piece is fairly short).

6.The Chinese Room argument: J.R Searle, ‘Minds, brains and programs’: http://members.aol.com/NeoNoetics/MindsBrainsPrograms.html 

7.Free Will

8.Consciousness

9.Is The Brain Just a Computer? Connectionism, neural nets, PDP, cybernetics: Connectionism and the neural network model as a competitor to the computational model of mind. Reading: Rodney Brooks “Intelligence without Representation:  http://people.csail.mit.edu/brooks/papers/representation.pdf

Classroom Participation

Participation in class discussion is of paramount importance.  Your understanding of topics will be displayed by asking intelligent, well reasoned questions, raising valid objections to arguments and displaying an awareness of the issues raised in the readings. Nothing you say in class will cause your grade to be lowered. Asking questions on my lectures and the readings will aid your understanding of the material, and help me as well. Absence from a class means that you will not profit from the class discussion and that your ability to  write relevant papers will be diminished.