The first block on cyber-culture has been very engaging and as we come to a close, we an also see that it is a topic that has been in the media recently. Bill Gates has been warning us of the dangers of AI, famous robots permeate our culture, our vision of the future is almost entirely made up/defined by the technology we use and the threats that it may pose to us. This could be seen in contrast to how we see technology now.

Monsanto’s House of the Future, offers a peak into our past views on technology and the integration of it into everyday lives.

The dystopian view of the future is definitely more entertaining, and with new movies such as Chappie also exploring AI and what it means to be a sentient being.

Finally, how can we apply these views of technology to education? We have to be weary that there may be fear/resistance to technology as there are negative connotations associated here. What it means to be human, robots, cyborgs and identity are themes that all need to be addressed when reconciling technology with education.

The digital artefact was the main focus of this week’s studies. The artefact began by looking at the tensions between human/robot. The focus of the imagery in the first ring was to highlight the unnerving element of the cyborg and what it means to be human. The eye being a key element and one which popped up in our film festival, over and over again.

The second circle focused on themes about memory; digital memory and cognitive memory. It was meant to elicit the ways in which education is being influenced by ideas of the ‘digital’ memory.

The third circle focussed on some of the fear we have related to robots and the essence of being human, what it means to be human and the threats that AI seemingly can pose to us. Some of the images are taken from films which express these tensions.

The fourth circle looks at the lack of sound in the realm of analysis of digital cultures. This paired with the electronic soundtrack (music created wholly via samples and digital drum machines) aims to underline an area of study that can be seen to be overlooked when compared to the visual analysis of digital culture.

Finally the last circle looks at Homo-Faber and man defined by the tools he uses. This artefact aimed to link together all of the themes that we saw in block one of the EDC course.

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