With the rise of AI and LLMs in recent times, there are many different opinions and thoughts on it that people share, and many of those people express them through a variety of ways. Throughout this class we have looked at a huge variety of sources about AI, most of which are educational and written to inform. But, for the average person who doesn’t spend their time extensively researching and learning about both the history and the future of AI, there are few representations of it that can bring forth good feelings towards it. In all kinds of media, film especially, AI is a highly popular plot line. Robots or advanced computer programs gain sentience and turn into murder-bots who want to destroy humanity, while also displaying more human characteristics than technological ones. Ironic, really. The topic that I want to revolve my essay around is how the depiction of AI in consumer media correlates to the fear, distrust, and overall ill feelings that many people have towards advancing AI technology.
Obviously I will have to examine media such as movies and literature with plot lines surrounding AI, but those won’t be too difficult to find and analyze; they’re everywhere. The difficulty might come with properly relating other sources such as scholarly journals or books about AI with pieces of media. The way AI is taken in entertainment compared to the way its taken educationally is very different in many aspects, and I really want to explore both of them. A big idea I also want to expand upon is what these different sources and pieces of media show or predict about the future of AI in reality. Will people take more influence or more caution, and will people begin to change the narrative as this technology advances?
