Artificial Life: Frankenstein Meets Watson
Artificial Life: Frankenstein Meets Watson
(05) Artificial Life: Frankenstein Meets Watson - Denise Byrnes, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
The Old Testament’s mythological Jewish golem, Ovid’s Galatea of Metamorphosis, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein and more recently, the androids and robots of science fiction chronicle our fascination with the creation of intelligent artificial life. Emerging technologies in artificial intelligence, robotics, genetics, and bioengineering may be the pathway to artificial life as fact. In 2010, Craig Venter created a synthetic cell, Synthia, from scratch and Watson, an artificial intelligence system, competed on the quiz show Jeopardy in 2011. The writing-intensive seminar examines how current artificial intelligence systems develop emergent behavior and whether such systems exhibit true intelligence. Further, we investigate popular media’s portrayal of the social and ethical implications of creating artificial life. Readings may include excerpts from The Mind’s Eye by Daniel C. Dennett, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip Dick.