Tag Archives: featured-image

Introducing Leo Storm

Introducing Leo Storm, the innovator. Leo was born July 18, 1985, in Charlotte NC. Leo was the oldest of three boys. His father Mike Storm was also an engineer while his mother Amber Storm was lab technician. Growing up, Leo had a passion for building things. As a child his favorite thing to do was build Legos. His father was a heavy influence on Leo. Mike was a mechanical engineer and was always working on projects. Leo took this opportunity to shadow his father’s work. Which later played a role in him becoming an engineer himself.

Leo began his journey as an innovator by attending Harvard University, where he graduated top of his class with a degree in mechanical engineering. After Havard Leo got a job as an engineer for a tech company in California. Leo is still with company to this date. Leo has no wife or kids. He puts all his energy and efforts into his job and is always looking for ways to better himself and his work. This is a small glimpse of the life of Leo Storm. Leo looks forward to meeting everyone!

Techno-Optimist Manifesto

After reading the Techno-Optimist Manifesto, it makes me think that we use technology for everything. Technology makes us live a better and more comfortable life than how we used to do before technology. Without technology now, it would be difficult to live. Having no electricity will take a huge toll on us because, with no lights, no cellular data, or internet to keep posting on my blog would be a disaster. Technology has helped our medical field evolve with better-advanced materials and even better performance for surgery. It has helped provide surgeons with detailed preparative and being able to view the patient’s anatomy. Without Advance technology our medical field would currently be in the stone age. in addition, having technology in the medical field has had a positive impact by enabling doctors to understand and diagnose illnesses more accurately. In the film, I Am Mother, The Mother AI was allowed to create a bunker that has advanced technology that can withstand a nuclear blast with a whole nurturing system, She also had advanced technology materials to help and support anyone that was injured from the outside. I think it’s super important to have advanced technology because it will allow us to aid individuals who have suffered little to no damage. Dr. Oblivion agrees that advanced technology plays a crucial role within the medical field and allows doctors and nurses to diagnose patients more accurately and treat them more effectively. With this being said it is extremely important to keep using advanced technology because it can evolve to the point where it can help create and nurture a human.

AI: Character

Good afternoon, People! I made an AI Character for this ds106. I’m happy to introduce her to you guys. Her name is Dolly She’s an Art technician, which means she sees all tech as paintbrushes and palettes, tools, and media for self-expression. She was born today on Mars. She’s an independent single woman. She appears to be tall, lean with glossy black eyes surrounded with long thick lashes and long black curly hair. She’s a humbled, funny, and artistic character. Dolly enjoys watching Polar Express while eating Mexican food, her favorite color is pink, Favorite book is Dark Energy. While she lives day by day she likes to wear her favorite possession her golf necklace.

Artsy Things – Daily Creates Week 1

January 20: Three Word Map

This activity used what3words to generate three words based on my hometown. I then used images related to that place, including art based on history, informational signs, and common animals, to create a collage. I edited using PhotoPea.

January 21: Ceiling Selfie

For this daily create, I took a photo of the ceiling of where I was sitting, which happened to be my desk. Unfortunately, the ceiling was pretty boring.

January 22: Fibonacci Poem

This activity had us write a poem where the amount of words in each line corresponded to the Fibonacci sequence.

“today
i
woke up
and got ready.
I went to the gym,
then had breakfast and watched a fun show.
now it is time to go to my first class, wish me luck!”

January 24: California Dreaming Poem

For this daily create, I watched several minutes of a California weather feed and wrote a poem inspired by it. I could not post the entire sonnett due to character restrictions on Mastodon, so here is the full thing:

“the moving clouds and all the flashing lights

are shining on an inky, blue-grey sky.

i wonder what its like on those such nights,

and know the vision one could never buy.

It’s pretty, but it’s hard to understand

unless you’re there, which i have never been.

one day i’ll travel to the far off land

and look upon the real sky with a grin.

it’s hard to see but i can tell it’s there,

even as i gaze upon a screen.

to judge from here cannot be fully fair,

but i imagine it’s like the sistene.

to tell is hard but I’ve written all this

faking a quite sincere sense of bliss.”

January 25: Internet Emergency Exit sign

This daily create asked us to make an emergency exit sign about the internet. I decided to make a warning for websites with possible viruses. Once again, it was fun to play around with photo editing even if the result wasn’t spectacular.

Its Calista’s World

Fanfic Assignment

I want to virtually introduce you to Calista she is 22 years old and was born in New York where she currently resides with her husband and 4 pets. She has long dark curly brown hair that cascades down her back and she has pretty light hazel eyes and she happens to be on the thinner side. People often tell her that’s she strickling beautiful, but she is the kind of person that ignores that. She prefers to be complimented for her accomplishments. She has a type A personality and works at publishing office and edits/ reads books all day. Shes the typical first person at work and 5am and the last to leave around 6pm. She may sound boring but I’m telling you she’s not.

Are you curious about her yet? We’ll let me tell you a bit more about her. When Calista’s not working Shes training, she puts all of her energy into Tennis when she can. Shes on an adult sports Tennins league and often spends time either at her private gym’s tennis court or at the homebase of her team.

What made her get into tennis? Well, something that she doesn’t like to share with people with the exception of her two very best friends and her spouse. Shes a closet anime fan her favorite genre being sports. When she was in middle school, she watched an anime that was centered around tennis, and she fell in love with both anime and tennis. She binged the anime over the course of a few weeks and once she finished it, she asked her parents to buy her all the Tennis gear and she played tennis all throughout her middle school, high school, and college years.

You may be wondering if she had dreams about going pro? No, she never wanted to play it professionally. She knew that she wanted to be surrounded by books and enjoy reading stories that were being created by new and up and coming authors. She was drawn to Tennis because the appeal of joining a team and working towards with other people inspired her.

When Calista has time to relax because she likes to make sure she makes time to take care of herself. She spends it at home with her husband and four dogs binging the latest tv show and eating takeout. No, the dogs don’t eat the takeout they eat the boujee food that they get from the VIP pet store for upper east siders. Neither of them likes to cook. Their favorite thing to eat is authentic ramen and mochi ice cream.

Well that sums up Calista for you. I hope you enjoyed reading about her!

Film Review Take #2

At the bottom of this blog is my original film review, but here are my new thoughts after speaking with Dr. Oblivion: 

While Dr. Oblivion did provide many valuable inputs, my original review does talk about several things that align exactly with what Dr. Oblivion says. My review acknowledges the positive aspects of AI, highlighting how J.A.R.V.I.S. assists Iron Man in his various duties and contributes to his suit. Dr. Oblivion emphasizes how humans should be appreciating the benefits of AI aligns with the comments I made about J.A.R.V.I.S. and its role in enhancing Iron Man’s abilities. My review takes note of the fact that J.A.R.V.I.S. enables Iron Man to realize the full potential of what he can be as a superhero. This lines up with Dr. Oblivion’s idea that AI can empower individuals and enhance their capabilities. 

When asking Dr. Oblivion to explore the deeper themes of AI in Iron Man, he first delves into the portrayal of J.A.R.V.I.S. in the movie and how there are dangers to the development of AI. What I didn’t check in my film review, that Dr. Oblivion noted, is that the movie highlights the ethical responsibility associated with creating AI machines, showcased by J.A.R.V.I.S. as an AI assistant. This aligns with exactly what Dr. Oblivion said above that it is important to be cautious of potential AI advancements that are in theory there to “benefit society”.  

During my original film review, I talked about my personal connection to Iron Man and my appreciation for how Robert Downey Jr. plays the role. While that was certainly insightful information, nevertheless I should have added more insights to add depth to my analysis of J.A.R.V.I.S.’s significance. Specifically, I should have emphasized how the film’s portrayal of AI echoes contemporary discussion on the responsible development and use of AI.

In summary, by incorporating Dr. Oblivion’s thoughts into my writing, about the themes of Ai in the first Iron Man movie, I am therefore providing a more comprehensive analysis for the assignment. Dr. Oblivion’s insights combine technical aspects, ethical considerations, and the impact of AI on human society. 

Original Discussion Board Post:

I decided to watch the AI-related movie Iron Man. The artificial intelligence (AI) in the Iron Man film is J.A.R.V.I.S. (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System). Although I have already seen this Marvel film, it seems to get better and better every time I see it. This movie holds a particular place in my heart because I was just a kid when I first saw Iron Man with my dad and was in awe of everything that he was capable of. I think part of the reason I love Marvel so much now is because this was the first Marvel movie I ever watched! It never gets old seeing him construct his first Iron Man suit while under terrorist captivity. Needless to say, this was only the first of his several recognizable Iron Man outfits that the world has grown to love. Growing older has made me even more of an admirer of Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Iron Man; nobody plays the character more clever and witty than him. This particular film has a significant part in the Iron Man series and a bigger part in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. 

As previously mentioned, J.A.R.V.I.S. is the primary artificial intelligence system utilized in Iron Man. To put it briefly, Tony Stark, aka Iron Man, developed J.A.R.V.I.S. as a tool to assist him in a variety of duties. All of the data and information that Tony Stark can observe in real time while wearing his suit is referred to as artificial intelligence. Iron Man can fly, fire weapons, and defend against attacks without the need for manual intervention thanks to the AI built into his armor. Throughout the film, it is also demonstrated that J.A.R.V.I.S. can develop from Iron Man’s experiences and change in response to feedback. Tony Stark communicates with J.A.R.V.I.S. through voice command, which is essentially AI as well. Finally, one application of AI is the way J.A.R.V.I.S. protects Tony Stark’s technologies and suit. Overall, J.A.R.V.I.S. offered a wide variety of AI throughout the film, which is particularly impressive considering that, at the time the film was released in 2008, not much of this technology was existent. The Iron Man character was able to realize his full potential as a superhero thanks to J.A.R.V.I.S.

The Techno-Optimist Manifesto vs Iron Man

The Techno-Optimist Manifesto contrasts with the mainstream view of AI, as mentioned in the week two assignments. As most of us have undoubtedly seen from the movies we’ve watched, AI is nearly universally portrayed negatively in society and is frequently held responsible for a variety of problems. The manifesto emphasizes that technology is the foundation of the world and presents AI in a good way. Their views on AI are reflected in the manifesto, which also emphasizes how it may change the world. 

The movie I watched last week for my DS106 AI Film Review, was Iron Man 1 which includes J.A.R.V.I.S., Tony Stark’s AI assistant. The manifesto and Iron Man share some similarities relating to AI, nevertheless there are also contrasts between the two. The first common theme I recognized between the manifesto and Iron Man is that they both display a positive view of AI. J.A.R.V.I.S. showed that AI advancements can be a means to improve human life in the ability to solve problems, which was similarly described in the manifesto. In both the manifesto and movie AI is portrayed in a positive light. The manifesto talks about how AI can be used as a problem solver that can help save lives and contribute to several ways of life. Similarly as I talked about above, J.A.R.V.I.S., is a highly functioning and helpful assistant to Tony Stark, showing the capabilities and positive side of AI. In my opinion both the manifesto and Iron Man harp on the theme of technological abundance. The manifesto wants AI to continue on its upward trend to make everything abundant, similarly Tony Stark has the ability to create advanced technology that enhances his capabilities as Iron Man. 

On the contrary, there are certainly differences in some of the themes presented in the manifesto compared to Iron Man. The first thing I thought of while reading through the manifesto was that it is a real-world document that promotes a positive image on AI and how it can practically impact the world. Whereas, Iron Man, while a great movie, is a fictional movie in Marvel that portrays AI and advanced technology just a part of Iron Man’s story. The manifesto also does not just consider AI as a means of technology, but rather a universal problem solver. The manifesto states that AI could help fields like medicine and help enhance other human capabilities. In contrast, J.A.R.V.I.S. is more simply a tool that acts as Iron Man’s assistant. While the manifesto definitely believes we should be optimistic for the future of AI, it doesn’t fail to recognize that there are certainly ethical considerations. Iron Man mainly highlights the positive aspects of J.A.R.V.I.S., failing to really show the possible ethical implications and the responsibility that comes with advanced technology. Going back to my point of realism vs. fiction, the manifesto outlines a vision as a material philosophy, with the belief that the future will be better because of it. Again, with Iron Man being a fictional movie purely for entertainment purposes, uses AI simply as a means in the superhero narrative, which contributes to the entertainment of the movie. 

To conclude, both The Techno-Optimist Manifesto and Iron Man share some similar positive views on AI, however the manifesto is a real-word document advocating for a specific perspective, while Iron Man is a fictional portrayal of AI within the context of a superhero movie.

After asking Dr. Oblivion what he thought about my reflection, he initially says I have made quite the effort to compare and contrast these two sources. He goes on to agree with me that the manifesto paints a positive picture of AI while Iron Man showcases the wonders of Tony Stark’s AI assistant, J.A.R.V.I.S. Dr. Oblivion focuses on the fact that both sources seem to portray AI in a positive light. He then gives examples from my above paragraphs, manifesto highlights the potential of AI as a problem solver, while J.A.R.V.I.S. displays the capabilities and benefits of advanced technology. Dr. Oblivion then goes into the differences of the two, the manifesto is a real world document promoting a positive image of AI’s practical impact while Iron Man is just a fictional movie in the Marvel universe. He finishes with, the manifesto also emphasizes AI as a universal problem solver where J.A.R.V.I.S. is just a handy tool for Iron Man. Overall, Dr. Oblivion seemed to be fairly satisfied with my answer, even reiterating lots of the points I made throughout my reflection.  

The other side of techno-optimism

a design representing an early 20th century vision of a techno-dystopiaIn The Techno-Optimist Manifesto, Andreessen puts forward a story about the relationships between humanity and technologies. We should consider his perspective, and what he highlights and what he ignores.

He says, “We believe [technology] is the story of the material development of our civilization; this is why we are not still living in mud huts, eking out a meager survival and waiting for nature to kill us” People live in brick houses and live paycheck to paycheck, until they get sick and die. What has changed? Some people are billionaires who think if they hoard enough resources they can cheat death.

Andreessen sees the world from the perspective of an owner/investor, rather than a worker. Tech (and people) work for him and his benefit. What those people have to do, and under what conditions, is invisible to him.

We believe the techno-capital machine is not anti-human – in fact, it may be the most pro-human thing there is. It serves us. The techno-capital machine works for us. All the machines work for us.

This again reminds me of Darwin Among the Machines, but perhaps that depends on who he means by “us.” The techno-capital machine employs a lot of people, and works for people at Andreessen’s economic stratum.

“Move fast and break things” is not stated, but ever present. People of a certain status can afford to take chances, can afford losses, are protected from broken things and the damage that breaking things causes. The manifesto also echoes, even quotes, Marinetti’s Futurist Manifesto, which inspired no small breakage in the 20th century. This makes me wonder what the techno-optimist is really optimistic about.

So I asked Dr. Oblivion, “Does The Futurist Manifesto offer a useful frame for evaluating the potential of AI? Is it reasonable to consider it optimistic?”

Well, my young friends, the Futurist Manifesto, is a set of ideas written by Filippo Marinetti way back in 1909.
It was all about embracing technological progress and the excitement of the future.
When it comes to evaluating the potential of AI, it’s good to have an open mind like the Futurists.
However, it’s important to balance that optimism with thoughtful consideration of the potential risks and challenges that AI might bring.
So while the Futurist Manifesto gives us a useful frame, it’s always wise to approach AI with a mixture of optimism and caution.

Spoken like a true bot.