This week we had one presentation on Artificial Intelligence, Simulation and Modelling.

This was great. I would have had no idea what artificial intelligence or simulation before this lesson. If someone asked me to take a guess at what it was I would have probably said something that the CIA would use or government spys to gain information or help them in covert missions. But I was really surprised to learn that it is in our everyday lives, video games, computers etc.

I thought the lesson was fantastic. The teachers made a point that there would be a quiz so they needed to take notes, this made us all listen and write stuff down. We then did the quiz which was quite tricky but were able to get the answers we missed during the class discussion. The teachers also asked for answers from each table so it wasn’t the same student always answering the questions, everyone was involved. The conclusion of the lesson was awesome. We all had to log on and play a simulation game where we either had to drive a car or fly a helicopter, it was really hard but so much fun and a great way to tie up a lesson that was heavily content based with something that was still perfectly relevant to the topic but also really fun for the students. Its almost like a reward for trying hard in the quiz etc. I really loved this lesson and if I am teaching this topic I will definitely integrate these methods into some of my lessons.

The link is the trailer to a fantastic Steven Spielberg film called Artificial Intelligence. It is set in the future where the possibilities of Artificial Intelegence have progressed. The story is about a boy, a robotic boy who is programmed with the ability to love.  I think this could be a great movie for the students to watch as they will be interested since it’s by Steven Spielberg. It may help them to start thinking about artificial intelligence and how it can and can’t or shouldn’t work.

Past, Current and Emerging Technologies

I am really interested in new and emerging technologies and the considerations that come with it. I remember for the trial HSC I wrote a response on obsolescence. Much of what I wrote I still remember and I think it is really important to know. I could discuss some of these points with a class and see what their opinions are.

“With new and emerging technology obsolescence is a huge issue.

Planned obsolescence could be seen as ethical in that the world is fast passed today with new and emerging technologies. Planned obsolescence forces the public to keep up with the rest of society. We also greatly rely on our economy and the workforce. And important segment of that is sales and goods and services. To prevent the economy from falling into recession, society need to continually be requiring goods and services and be purchasing them.

It becomes unethical when designers and marketers deliberately over use planned obsolescence to generate massive long-term sales and financial profits.

Designers also need to consider the environment. If they are going to adopt planned obsolescence into their designs they need to ensure the resources and materials used to continually make the products do not have negative effects on the environment. Resources need to be infinite (water, wind, air, trees) and materials biodegradable or environmentally friendly, so that they do not add to land fill. It would be unethical for designers to use finite materials and resources (coal, oil, fuel) as they would be making more products than necessary which harming the environment. Looking after the environment can draw the line between ethical and unethical behaviour. Our environment is of huge concern today and designers need to consider this in our changing world. we all leave our own environment footprint, so we should make it a positive one.” extract from my year 12 essay.