Essay 3: Constructing an Argument

Future World – The Fourth Industrial Revolution Tech Debates – Utopia or Dystopia?

Weighting: 25%

Word count: 1200 words min.

Drafts: 3

Sources: minimum 5 – at least three of which must be academic

Essay Requirements

• Provide an annotated bibliography for your essay (to be graded separately -- see assignment description)
• Provide an outline for your essay
• Provide a suitable title for your essay
• Format your paper according to MLA Style Guidelines
• Provide a Works Cited page for each of the three typed drafts you will submit.
• Your essay should be carefully proofread and checked for typing and other errors before submission.
• All drafts due on turnitin

For this assignment you will write a complex and comprehensive essay about a particular debatable topic that demonstrates your ability to do the following:

• Define a position and construct a clear and contextualized debatable claim
• Persuade an audience that a position on an issue is valid
• Adopt the use of appropriate persuasive and rhetorical strategies
• Provide logical and appropriate support for claims with relevant evidence
• Address the counterarguments, and make concessions and/or refutations that are logical and objective
• Synthesize ideas from different sources
• Research and incorporate relevant sources to develop and substantiate ideas

Skills common to this and all previous RHET 1010 Papers:

• Brainstorming, researching, developing and organizing ideas into a detailed outline
• Providing a focused thesis that addresses the purpose of the essay and controls its development
• Organizing an essay and developing ideas through unified and coherent paragraphs
• Using clear reasoning to support and develop ideas
• Avoiding logical fallacies or asking readers to adopt unreasonable assumptions
• Supporting claims with relevant evidence and integrating it meaningfully into the essay
• Citing and documenting sources correctly using MLA style guidelines
• Adopting an appropriate tone and addressing audience appropriately
• Recognizing and correcting errors through self editing and revising according to instructor comments, self and peer review
• Proofreading to correct typos, punctuation and mechanical errors

Assignment Description

Progress in science and technology always evokes hope and fear in society. Science fiction, by combining the rigour of science with the imagination of fiction, plays a big role in expressing these feelings. Dystopian novels, like A Brave New World or 1984, have captivated readers for decades. One of the most enticing aspects of this fiction is the premise that one could be living in a dystopia and not know it. More recent examples, like Spike Jonze’s film Her, further blur the lines and force us to ask where technology is taking us – and where we want to take technology.

Today’s great technological advances and especially those in the digital space – ubiquitous connectivity, big data analytics, artificial intelligence – spark hope in an otherwise gloomy global environment; yet they also raise concerns about employment, inequality, education, privacy, democracy and more. Hope and fear, utopia and dystopia; the lines are blurred. Whatever we may have envisioned, the reality is more than menacing: never has any private company, like these high tech ones, had such immediate power over the way we act, feel, think, date, buy, fight – whatever.

Referenced from: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/09/utopia-dystopia-five-key-tech-debates/ and http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-38036730

The World Economic Forum has identified five key tech debates:

1. The Power of Networks
2. The Automated Economy
3. The Sharing Revolution
4. The Robot Revolution
5. Alternative Currencies

Your Task

Select one of these 5 tech debates to research and then construct an argument which outlines the controversial impacts of this key technology on our present/future societies and the likely directions it would take us. You will need to defend your position against opposing viewpoints.

You need to be careful not to have too simple of an argument, as there are many potential factors or aspects to take into consideration, but ultimately, you need to decide FOR or AGAINST the technology that you are focusing on. You have to build an evidence-supported argument as to which decision is best and why.

Required Readings:

Buckup, Sebastian. “Utopia or Dystopia? Five Key Tech Debates.” World Economic Forum. 10 Sept 2014.

Schulz, Thomas. “Tomorrowland: How Silicon Valley Shapes Our Future.” Spiegel Online: International. 04 Mar 2015.

Additional Sources:

Lee, Dave. “Facebook Fake News Row: Mark Zuckerberg is a Politician Now.” BBC News: Technology. 19 Nov 2016.

Brundage, Miles, et al. “The Malicious Use of Artificial Intelligence: Forecasting, Prevention, and Mitigation.” https://maliciousaireport.com/

Dowd, Maureen. “Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse.” Vanity Fair. April 2017

McAfee, Andrew. "What will the future of jobs look like?" YouTube. June, 2013.

Revolution: Google and Youtube Changing the World

The fascinating world of Instagram's "virtual" celebrities

5 future technologies shaping today

Points to consider – to help you start brainstorming:

1. Are we really facing a new era where the ordinary citizen can speak ‘truth to power’?
2. Are we at the brink of another Industrial Revolution?
3. Will smart machines liberate us or lead us to unemployment?
4. Will the sharing economy save us or sell us?
5. How can autonomous machines act ethically?
6. What if digital currencies, as they erode state power over the issuing of currencies, not only disrupt commerce but also financial systems?

Grading:

You will be graded based on the RHET 1010 Argumentative Essay Grading Rubric attached below.