Homework Assignment 1
600.435 Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence in Literature, TV, or Film
In the first weeks of classes, we framed Artificial Intelligence in the broader context
of the public imagination, philosophy of mind, cognitive neuroscience and cognitive
psychology.
In this assignment, compare at least 2 works of literature, TV, or film, in terms of
how they address an important problem of artificial intelligence, in areas such as:
• the physical and mental capabilities of the artificial intelligence
• the agency of artificial intelligence (as explored in the Philosophy of Mind lecture)
• the motivations of the artificial intelligence, including their origin and the designer’s objective, if applicable
• what the involvement of the artificial intelligence reveals about human nature
• ethical issues
In class, we touched upon the following works:
• I, Robot — book or movie
• 2001 — A Space Odyssey — book or movie
• Alien
• Bladerunner
• Star Treck
• Terminator 2
• Ex Machina
• Her
• Transcendence
• Chappie
• The Matrix
• Humans
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• Surrogates
• Neuromancer
• Person of Interest
You may choose any of these, or any other work.
There are no strict rules on how your essay is laid out, but you may follow the
following structure: (a) the problem raised, (b) short summary of the problem for each
of the works, (c) comparison of how elements of the problem are handled in the works,
(d) your personal assessment of the problem, and (e) conclusion.
Formal Requirements
Your essay should span 2–4 pages (12pt, 1.5 spaced) and is due on February 17 to be
submitted to Gradescope. This assignment accounts for 10% of your final grade.
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