Weighting: 25%
Word count: 1200 words min.
Drafts: 3
Sources: minimum 5 – at least three of which must be academic
For this assignment you will write a complex and comprehensive essay about a particular debatable topic that demonstrates your ability to do the following:
Skills common to this and all previous RHET 1010 Papers:
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:
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.
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.
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
You will be graded based on the RHET 1010 Argumentative Essay Grading Rubric attached below.