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This course is an experiment in intellectual and creative practice, where we start from the awareness that the Homo sapiens, rather than being the chief mover and maker of history, share the space of culture, politics and emotions with machines and other nonhumans. The main goal of our time together is to create a space of futurist prediction and speculation as a way of  studying and creating. Posthumanism can be understood as a fact (that we are changing as a species), or as a approach (that we perceive ‘humanism’ as no longer useful in making sense of the world). It can mean creating new ethical and political frameworks that include nonhumans; designing artistic practices where humans are not considers as the main ‘authors’; approaches to history that puts less priority on human agency; science-fictional approaches to the future of our species and technological developments, and more. In this class, you will get a glimpse into this diversity of posthumanist frameworks. Though ‘posthumanism’ as a word can sound rather obscure and quite philosophical, debates around it inform many popular and wide-ranging social debates. Social media, automation, and artificial intelligence are at the forefront of public conversation about future organization of human societies, the purpose of culture, and even our intimate lives. Civilizational projects of engineering such as space colonialism or biohacking escape the realm of fantasy and begin to inform real-life projects, while ecological concerns about climate change and scientific research into animal and plant behavior challenge our belives about human uniqueness. ‘Posthumanism’ will be for us an umbrella term under which we discuss these paradigm shifts.

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This course aims to train students to think philosophically about our rapidly changing—and ever more intimate — relationship with machines. The interdisciplinary course is typically historically oriented. Each iteration focuses on a particular theme. Past themes include thinking machines, other minds, simulation and the nature of artifice.

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Spring 2024
Spring 2021
Fall 2016

Language, writing, and communication have been central to thought experiments about AI since the term was coined in the 1950s. In the 2020s, due to advances in deep learning, large language models are reshaping how we think about intelligence philosophically, and are beginning to change how we write and think in our daily lives. This seven-week course aims to connect theoretical, philosophical, and historical approaches with actual practices of writing and editing text with artificial intelligence. We will engage in multiple automated writing practices, analog and digital, and explore through discussions, presentations, and essays whether the automation of lower-level writing can serve a creative purpose or aid in the development of higher-level writing skills.

The course includes a series of lectures on the historical, social, artistic, and philosophical implications of automated and augmented writing, demonstrating that it is a practice older than computers, and reflecting on how it has changed throughout history. Why do humans have a desire to outsource or automate cognitive actions, and what does it mean for the future of creativity and thought?

Concurrently, we will explore current practical approaches to AI writing, from prompt engineering to textual media co-creation, approaching it artistically and philosophically, but also with utility, wondering if it makes us better or different writers than the type of digital writing that existed before the introduction of large language models.

The course culminates in the creation and publication of a collaborative experimental text with AI about AI; and an individual research project where students reflect on the use of AI in their writing practices.

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