Month: November 2018

Am I an author? What are the qualifications connected to becoming an author? Can anyone or anything become an author? Can an author exist without censorship? Are we tied to our informational data? These questions are most prevalent, in my opinion, to this module (The Dark Side of Digital Culture) because it is during this sector of the course that we discussed the importance of censorship and authorship, and the ideals and quandaries related to them. These are very intriguing and profound concepts because in our society, authorship and censorship are conceptualized and utilized on a daily basis. Books are being published as I write this blog; tweets are being created as I write this blog. It is fascinating to see how these concepts are simultaneously being utilized. You cannot have one without the other… or can we? Within this module we discussed a multitude of interesting ideals that correlate to the concepts of authorship and censorship. Some of the ideals we discussed are: the significance of Information Economy Metalanguage (IEML); copyright; patents; the definition of an author; intellectual property; artificial intelligence; coding; the history of philosophies; the idea of becoming our data; Foucault; informational identities; and the quandary of computers replacing us as authors. I find this module intriguing because each of these concepts relate to authorship and how we navigate a world of artificiality and artificial censorship. Aside from the relationship to authorship and censorship, it is interesting to ponder if there is a negative connotation existing within these ideals… is there a dark side? Will these artificial and technological advancements create a detrimental riff between authorship and humanity? Will we be replaced? 

With the complex and thought-provoking concepts we have learned in this module, I am most fascinated with and interested in authorship, informational identities, censorship, and artificial intelligence. During the class in which Professor Arthur Farley gave his informational lecture on authorship, the class participated in a discussion revolving around the idea of artificial intelligence and how it correlates to authorship and humanity. This was an insightful discussion because it provided differing vantage points and further insight regarding ideas I had not thought prevalent prior to this course. This is important because it seems that our society is evidently becoming more technological… our informational identity might become overshadowed by censorship and computer authorship. This can possibly lead to a realm of digital detriment because even though advanced technology is a good thing, the possibility that a computer can learn and match our writing and style is probable cause for concern. With creative license, my thoughts, ideas and works are secured, but what if our technology can override that sense of censorship and take control? I mean we do live in a world where we have self-driving cars, how long will it be until computers can steal our thoughts? With artificial intelligence, computers can learn from our informational identity, and in a way create an individual persona based on our data and usage. Henceforth, computers will become authors, and maybe in the future replace us. 

As a class thus far we have learned about differing sectors within the realm of digital humanities. Now that we have a foundation of what digital humanity and digital culture each entail, we are now being introduced to how this collective knowledge and these ideals can be utilized and actualized in real world examples. This is important because learning about a topic is a completely different experience then viewing how that topic is being actualized. Or, in another sense, what research and projects are being conducted based on that topic. As a visual learner, I find it extremely beneficial to see examples on a global scale. During this module (Digital Projects and Lab Works) the curriculum was full of guest lectures, lab time to focus on our final projects, as well as thought provoking class discussions regarding a myriad of differing concepts such as: distant reading; fusion tables; the importance of reflections and analysis; distant viewing; cultural analytics; how to record geographical data; the visualization of texts; Geocriticism; how Dante Alighieri’s texts and ideals have been mapped; The KinoLab; the importance of unstable geography; human tagging; annotating large amounts of data; and the importance of collective knowledge and user driven data. I know these seem like completely different topics and ideals, but the truth is that these concepts share a common thread: humanity. Without testing, analyzing and researching, how are we as a society going to advance our digital culture? Though humanity is a common thread, digitization is a factor in helping to make these ideals and research possible… as a means to pave the way for future research and future projects. 

Based on the complex material we have learned throughout the course of this module, I am most fascinated and interested in The Kinolab, the visualization of texts, as well as distant viewing. I am most fascinated with these concepts because the research and projects which are being conducted are intriguing. Each one of these concepts compliments the other as well as the entire module. These ideals epitomize digitization and the importance of mapping, annotating and tagging virtual images and texts. Distant viewing and reading is important to the realm of digital culture because each interpretation and vantage point is singular. Each interpretation is an important priority. For example, The KinoLab is a digital project that creates an experience based on annotations and tagging of differing films. Each tag and annotation leads researchers to varying and diverse interpretations. Learning of this fascinating digital project I thought back to a time when I registered for an Italian Cinema Studies course. During this course we viewed a multitude of classic Italian films and discussed the importance of the captivating scenes. I wish I knew of this project at the time in which I took that course because it leads to an unparalleled experience regarding distant viewing. This digital project is interesting not only because user output is an important priority, but also because data is curated, analyzed and categorized depending on similarities. Similarities revolving around viewing and virtualization. As a society, we have the opportunity to virtualize texts and view works of art in a different light. We have the opportunity to map and tag our own interpretations. 

As a society, it seems that we are moving further into an amplified age of cognitive thinking. We are moving into an age of exemplified cognitive digital culture. I say this because the possibilities regarding technology are endless… the amount of information we consume and learn from is infinite. When I think about the term “cognition,” I always relate its significance to the idea of all-encompassing knowledge. This is an important module because it will shape the modes in which we learn, read, research, analyze, and translate. Essentially, it will shift the way we perceive digital culture. With the combined presence of cognitive dimension and digital culture, we will have the ability to analyze data in a more efficient manner; through this analyzation, we will have the ability to understand data in a new vantage point. During this module, we had the opportunity to enhance our cognition through complex topics such as: topic modeling; digital and visual storytelling; text relevancy; Machine Learning Tasks (predictive, comparative and similarity); the mapping of ancient text; humanistic perspective; the importance of objectivity; document expression; as well as the differentiations behind context patterns. Together, these concepts and ideologies provide the spectator with the opportunity to further their cognition… further their cognitive dimension within the realm of digital culture. During the duration of this module, the concepts and topics at hand left me with a series of unanswered questions — How can we be sure that we are reading the correct context intended by the author of the work? How can we be sure that we are classifying the correct context? Does topic modeling have restrictions? How does the concept of humanistic perspective and cognitive dimension relate?

With these quandaries, I hope to learn more about the correlation between the work I am conducting in class (final project) and the knowledge I learn on a daily basis, with my cognitive relation to digital culture. Even though there were a myriad of concepts discussed within this module, the concept(s) I find most fascinating revolve around the algorithmic process of document expression, computational reading and topic modeling. I am most fascinated with these concepts because each one reflects and mirrors the other. In my opinion, in order to analyze a document and how we read computationally, topic modeling should be used as a means to pinpoint similarities with a given data set or poetic rich text. For example, with the existence of topic modeling and similar algorithms that locate similarities in phrases, contexts, themes, ideologies, and words within diverse bodies of work, we can analyze the computational components and understand the relationship between the similarities. The “triality” between these ideas is captivating. With technology such as this, we have the ability to tailor and narrow our research and results. We have the opportunity to tailor our search to fit the parameters of our research. This form of technology intrigues me because in previous courses in which I had to analyze similarities between two different authors and works. This algorithm and concept would have been beneficial in helping me to locate similarities between the way in which Dante Alighieri personifies the eyes of Beatrice, and the mode in which Francesco Petrarch amplifies the eyes of his beloved Madonna Laura. Within this technology is where the concepts of cognitive dimension and digital culture coincide.