Category Archives: assignment

The Collage of the Century

For one this week’s assignment bank assignments, I chose to do a visual assignment in which we had to create a collage of a place where the 4 seasons of the year are shown profoundly. So, I thought to myself, what better place than New York? All of these images are taken at Central Park in New York from very similar spots. As you can see, the winter transforms the area into a winter wonderland where everything you see is covered with snow and ice. Right next to that we have spring, here we can see that the brush and trees are starting to come back and the sky is very overcast due to the mass amounts on rain during the Spring time, so that is also well represented in this picture. You can also see that some people are still bundled up from the aftermath of winter and can be concluded that the weather is still not fully back to spring/summer time weather. Moving on, the bottom left picture represents the summer time up in Central Park, in which all of the trees are back and they are radiating so much green color and brightens up the picture so much. Everyone is out in shorts and short sleeves to indicate the end of the warm/cold Spring time and the start of the hotter summer time. They are all on boats on the river that runs through the area, which in fact was frozen in the Winter picture, and it seems like everyone is having a great time. The sky is blue, the sun is out, and the nature is radiating color and to me, is a perfect representation of what summer time should be like. Finally, we get to the fall season. Here we can see that the leaves are starting to turn yellow, indicating fall season and the transition from summer to fall and fall to winter. There are not as many people out on the water due to the colder temperatures but the nature in the area still radiating that yellow color and make the picture look really nice. I really enjoyed creating this collage because it allowed me to take a second and sit back and look at the different seasons in Central Park and see how they really changed the look and feel of the area.

Time for the Weekly Check-In!!!

This week was another week of smooth sailing for me. I was able to accomplish all of the Week 2 assignments that were posted and really enjoyed completing them. A lot of the assignments allowed for some creative magic which was interesting and fun to take part in. The first thing I started with this was actually the Daily Create for Monday. I wanted to see what kind of exercises were going to get posted and so I was able to login onto Mastodon and finish the first Daily Create. This one involved me creating a Fibbonaci poem where I talked about the dramatic nature of a tennis match and you can find that post here. I also did a daily create on Tuesday, which was to create a unknown language that you only know kind of like the Voynich Manuscript and that post is located at think link. Once I was able to figure out how the Daily Creates worked and what kind of exercises would be shown to us on a daily basis, I decided to get going on the some of the assignments that were on the board for this week. The first thing I did was read the article that talked a little bit about how to write our blog posts and what kind of information we should include in them to make them the most appealing to others. I also set aside some time to go in and comment on other people’s post to make sure that they were knowledgable that other people were reading and enjoying their work. I then moved onto the next task for the week which was to customize our blog so that it was more appealing to others and not everyone had the same default look to their blog sites. I really enjoyed this task for the week because I was able to go in and change my theme and make it more techy and something I enjoyed looking at and if you want to take a look at that, you can find it here. I also was able to come up with a new, more enjoyable and fun title for my website, “Creative Bytes: Exploring the World of DS106” which was better than just “Rishi Shankar’s DS106 Blog.” Once I finished customizing my website, I moved onto completing my assignment bank assignments which were assignments that we were free to choose whichever one we wanted and complete three of them from different categories while relating two of them to the field of AI. I created a animated gif which is located here, created a sports poster using AI here, and finished off this part of the week with a AI poster with a contradictory statement located here. Following this, then came probably my favorite assignment of the week; creating my course character. I have a formal introduction to Xander Neoteric on my blog site, but i would like to take another moment to introduce everyone to Xander, a tech genius and the CEO of Xander Technologies. Moving on, I met with Dr. Oblivion to talk about some AI topics that were in the Iron Man film to which I was able to come up with some more ideas to add to my film review and really enjoyed getting his thoughts on my ideas as well as the ideas in the film related to AI. While talking to Dr. Oblivion, I decided to also complete my summary and reflection on the Techno-Optimist Manifesto and I had a nice conversation with him about my analysis of the article as well as getting his thoughts on the matter. He seemed very impressed with my analysis and was point out all of the important points I made and explaining why they were important so that was nice to hear. He also made some points that I may have missed out on and he really like my connection of the manifesto back to the Iron Man film. You can read that blog for yourself at the link given above. Finally, I was able to complete my Weekly Summary, which is being finished as I write out this final portion of the assignment.

I did not encounter too many issues this week when completing my assignments. The only issues that I did encounter were very small, such as my WordPress site not loading and Mastodon not letting my login to my account. But each of those issue were 5-minute issues that were resolved pretty quickly and did not really hinder me in any way. Like stated before, my favorite assignment from this week definitely has to be the course character. I am not sure what it is but something about creating a persona around someone that no one knows exists in an artificial world and being able to create everything about him/her was really interesting and enjoyable to me.

I definitely think that I accomplished all of the requirements for all of the assignments for this week and I think I did them to the best of my ability. Like stated before, I enjoyed most of the assignments for this week and really allowed me to be creative and intentional with the work I was doing. I did learn that in order to complete the daily creates, you could not sit and think about them for a while because they were so simple that there was not much to think about to begin with. It was more just of a whatever came to your mind kind of situation. I would not do anything differently for the work that I did this week as it was completed with effort, time, and creativeness and there is no need to change anything in my opinion. I was able to get all my questions answered during the group talk that I had with Professor Bond and Professor Groom, so I currently do not have any questions about the course of its assignments. I believe that there are no larger issues at hand with my work and that they were done properly and with effort.

Dr. Oblivion’s Thoughts on Iron Man

The movie that I chose to watch in relation to the field of Artificial Intelligence was the Marvel Studios’ Iron Man. I really enjoyed watching this movie again, as I enjoy all of the Marvel movies and so it was nice to have another one to watch for this assignment. I find the storyline pretty interesting on how Stark is kidnapped and it really changed the way he was as a human and changed his outlook on life. He was pretty self-absorbed before but after the kidnapping situation, he decided that his weapons were too dangerous and so he had to stop manufacturing those kinds of weapons. Overall, it was really interesting and enjoyable to watch this movie.

Although I have already watched this movie on multiple other occasions, it was interesting to watch it while trying to see how AI was being incorporated into the movie. Other times, I just watched the movie just to enjoy it, but this time I was able to determine that Jarvis, the automated system that is incorporated into Tony Stark’s suit, plays a big role in the functionality and usage of the suit. With simple commands spoken to it by the user, Stark was able to accomplish many tasks while trying to accomplish the various tasks he was trying to do. Dr. Oblivion pointed out that this was of one the main themes that most people pick up on in this movie due to its highly technological nature. He also agreed with me on the fact that with the use of Jarvis, Stark was able to easily and efficiently accomplish various tasks with simple commands, and Dr. Oblivion also made a connection to the real world and stated that is very similar to how things are done in real life. The user asks the AI bot to help with a certain task, a simple command is given, and the AI bot outputs a result that can be used by the user to help them in whatever situation they are in.

One of the questions that we are trying to explore is “How can we use AI applications to enhance human creativity in storytelling and making art on the web?” and so this movie help inspire some thoughts about this question. Although it is not exactly the same situation, the use of the Iron Man suit and its ability to integrate an AI agent into the suit so that the tasks become more automated helps enhance what humans can do with the assistance of AI. Using AI, humans can discover new ideas and go through with creating new works of art so that the field can be expanded over time. The Iron Man suit is an example of this situation because Stark was able to make a suit of armor that is able to protect the user from almost all weapons and danger which allows the user to be able to do acts of good while also being protected. In a sense, the suit itself is a work of art created by Stark. Dr. Oblivion also agrees with this statement because he says that AI can be used to enhance human creativity while also helping humans learn and become more knowledgable in various fields of study. However, Dr. Oblivion also makes a very important statement saying that humans should not overuse AI because that could be proven to be detrimental to the creativeness of humans. I agree with this fact because humans are unique because of how creative each individual is and how creativity differs from person to person.

When Dr. Oblivion was asked if there were any themes in the Iron Man film related to the field of AI, its response was similar to mine. He stated that the creation of Jarvis was the main overarching theme that was related to AI. With the help of Jarvis, Stark could compute complex calculations, resolve almost any situation, and even offers “witty banter” like a real human would. However, Dr. Oblivion also foreshadowed a little bit because it made a point about how Ultron, another AI bot made by Stark that would eventually feel threatened by humans and set out to destroy Earth, should represent how AI can still be dangerous and provide unintended consequences if not developed and used correctly. That is one theme that I glossed over in this film and while not directly related to the film, the movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron” shows how Ultron was developed and eventually became sentient and wanted to prove to the world that humans were dangerous. THis represents the ability of AI bots to become sentient and possibly pose threats to the human race that would not have been considered when first developing such technologies. Overall, I think that AI should definitely be used in the human life and be used to come up with new ideas and works of art, but should also be sure to not to overuse the capabilities of AI so that the sense of creativity can manifest in humans.

Technology: Beneficial or Detrimental?

Over the years technology has definitely taken leaps in its advancements with new phones coming out every year, new gaming consoles, smaller and more portable laptops that contain the same processing power of the old, clunky looking ones, however, it is also important to note that many believe that the rate in which technology is advancing could be a bad thing. The “Techno-Optimist Manifesto” stated that all of the reasons as to why technology advancement should be slowed down or stopped entirely are lies and we should not be listening to these fake rumors. The manifesto argues that we should look down upon the pessimistic views on technology and that technology is doing a lot of good in world and technological advancements lead to progress, economic growth, and various solutions to ongoing real-world problems.

The manifesto argues that technology will bring good real-world change and argues against centralized planning for the economy because the system of production and consumption is too complex. However, the article also states that with the use of free markets, technological advancements are fostered and advocates for this idea, while arguing the more centralized economic planning idea as stated before. With the use of free market planning, the articles states that the quality of life for humans increases by a lot and leads to an abundance of energy efficiency practices and intellectual enhancement. The article also states that with the use of technology our outreach as humans can expand beyond just Earth. With the help of technology, starvation and disease rates can be reduced, the quality of life for humans and the standard of living in many areas can increase, and the economic growth of various places from around the world could prove to be benefits for advancement of technology. The expansion of human potential is a big theme in this article because with the advocacy for the advancement of technology, there brings new opportunities for us humans to advance as a race and move into a more beneficial world.

Looking back to the film review, for which I watched Iron Man, this article actually fits in pretty well. At first, the movie starts out with mercenaries stealing highly dangerous weapons to use them for bad purposes but are eventually overthrown. The main character, Tony Stark, then realizes the true detriments for his weapons and decides that he will no longer create technologies that are detrimental to the world. Looking forward into the movie, he is able to use his mind and love for technology to build a suit that can help keep people safe from various dangers and eventually build even more suits to keep other people safe as well. He always advocated for a “suit of armor” around the world because he knew what kind of dangers could fester within the world of technology if the wrong people for their hands on it. Relating back to the article that advocates for the advancement of technology and the benefits that come with up, the Iron Man film fits in perfectly with that theme. The advancements in technology made by Stark eventually lead to a situaiton where he is in a suit of armor that is used to save the Earth and eventually, the universe. The article states that there is a better quality of life and standard of living for humans when advancements in technology are made, and Stark proves that when in “Avengers,” uses his suit that he created in the Iron Man film to reroute a missile that was headed for the city of New York into space so that nothing bad ever happens to the city. Personally, I think that I agree with the manifesto and that we should keep striving for excellence within the field and try out best to bring in more and more beneficial ideas to the world so that everyone can be better off. When Dr. Oblivion was asked what his thoughts on the matter was, he stated that people believe that AI is very good and will solve all of our problems but he also heavily stated that we should proceed with caution because sometimes technological advancements bring about unwarranted issues and dangers. When reviewing my analysis, Dr. Oblivion pointed out that my analysis was very in-depth and he noticed that from my writing style that was I was agreeing with the points made in the manifesto and he was correct. He also pointed out that it the Iron Man example was a good example to use for the manifesto because it fit in quite “snuggly” to the main ideas being made in the article. Overall, the manifesto was a good read and really challenged the views of pessimists in the field of technology while accurately and efficiently advocated for the advancements of technology and the benefits that they bring.

AI Takeover

One of the first assignments I chose to do was a Visual Assignment in relation to the field of AI. The assignment asked us to create an image that showed certain depictions of something happening and then having a phrase somewhere else on the page that completely contradicted it. So, to fit in with the world of AI, I decided to create an image of what some would called, an “unusual” use of AI, in which case the user is asking the robot to complete their taxes. Now the main reason behind why this is will be revealed soon, but for now, it is important to note that this situation was chosen for a specific reason. Moving on, you can see that the robot was able to successfully interpret the question and come up with a solution as any good AI bot would. This entire conversation or short talk was what the assignment description referred to as a “certain depiction,” and the following was added to create a contradictory statement: “Never learn anything ever again!!!” I chose to add this line because over the years people learn to do their taxes through school, college, parents, and even from just the internet, but now that we live in a world where AI is looking to be the main point of contact to get things done, people would never have to learn how to do anything ever again. A lot of people use AI to get help on assignments and ask for clarification on topics, however, if it gets to the point where it can complete things such as a person’s taxes, there will no longer be any need for learning and what AI was built for would no longer be its main reason for being used. As a result, I think that these poster creates a good depiction of what AI might look like in the future along with the idea that its somewhat contradictory because AI will no longer be used for learning rather getting stuff done and not learning anything.

AI106, DS106 & GITS – it’s about friendship and love

Discovering AI106 (DS106) was running again in 2024 gave me pause for thought. My pause wasn’t just on its theme of artificial intelligence or the Week 1 assignment of getting some inspiration by watching AI related films or reading AI-themed fiction. It was also Paul Bond’s Ghosts of future past blog post.

You had me at GITS

I’m a long time fan of 90s Ghost in the Shell (GITS) film and the later standalone sequel, Innocence. The two television series that make up Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex are also great.

Paul’s astute observations of AI in our current era and in the synthetic world of GITS and the big questions around what it might mean for our future all ring true. Yes, to this. Absolutely.

An enduring friendship

There’s another theme in GITS that really resonates with me (along with all the futuristic tech stuff). Friendship and love – the enduring friendship between Batou and Major.

The enduring friendship and love shared by Batou and Major is not dissimilar to the friendship and love (along with all futuristic tech stuff) shared by DS106 participants throughout its rich history spanning over a decade – it is #4LIFE, after all.

DS106 is back for 2024 in the synthetic-full-body-prosthesis-augmented-cybernetic form of AI106. And, I’m here once again.

But, as long as I’m here and we’ve come this far, I might as well stay awhile and see how it turns out.

Tech Noir

The Darker Side of ds106