In this final paper, which doubles as the final exam, you will synthesize your learning by writing a paper which showcases research, expertise, analysis and persuasion. Your topic will be about how A.I has affected a single technology, and in the paper you will explore its blessings and burdens, and then make a claim about it.
The paper should be a MINIMUM of six pages, minus the works cited page, and it MUST use outside research, including a MINIMUM of six accredited sources. You MUST quote from the article “The Judgment of Thamus,” as well as from six other places. You MUST use first person, and you must not use A.I. except for the designated portion that I give you.
The paper requires finding a single area where A.I. is currently being used and then finding an issue and technology within that to discuss. The areas, and associated issues, are:
EDUCATION Cheating, Literacy, Fairness,
CODING Cheating, Job Loss, Humanity,
HEALTH CARE Job Loss, Humanity, Cost efficiency
SOCIAL MEDIA Algorithms, mental health, addiction, etc.
THE ARTS Algorithms, spotify, AI generated content, artists
DRIVING EV cars, equity, safety, job loss, etc.
WARFARE Drones, etc.
PRIVACY Smartphones, ring, data, etc.
Please use driving as single area where A.I is currently being used
In terms of rhetorical strategies, you will need to think about anecdotes around the subject or technology in question (pathos), facts about the technology (logos) and reliable sources on which to rest your own ethos.
According to Postman, new technologies are both a blessing and a burden; they make winners and losers, changing not only our lives, but our language. He also reminds us that new technologies always involve a loss. They make us “tools of our tools.” Think hard about the technology you’ve chosen. Who are the winners and losers? What changes has it wrought, and why are those changes either good or bad?
In addition to helping you to think critically about a text, the assignment asks you to consider what is “at stake” regarding some of the technologies we use every day. Ask yourself what kinds of rhetorics about this particular technology have been invoked for it to gain acceptance. How is it being presented to the public? Ideally, this paper should consist of description, research, and your own voice or argument.
While you are free to choose whatever you want, please choose a technology that lends itself to this paper, i.e. ones that have easily recognized blessings and burdens. Please stick to a technology, rather than a product – i.e. ‘smart phone,’ NOT, ‘iphone’, “self driving cars,’ NOT, “tesla.”
Your paper will rely upon research found in articles, books, interviews, surveys and any other secondary sources you can find in the short time available to us. Please choose a topic that will engage both you and us, your audience: in other words, make sure it is an issue you care about.
Remember, this paper is a persuasive argument, NOT merely a report of your research. Thus, the best way to approach it is to pose your topic in terms of a normative question that your paper will explore. Your thesis is the answer to a question: “Is A.I. technology helping society or hindering it? As previously mentioned, you should be writing this in the first person, and you will need to use your own intuition and insight, a strong writerly voice, and a clarity of purpose to drive home your argument persuasively.
Grading: An A paper will be a persuasive, well researched, and well-spoken essay with few to no grammatical errors. It will contain an original, persuasive and nuanced argument which argues its own position unassailably.
