Week 4 – Posthuman Identities

Module Questions

How do we recognize that alien intelligences—biological, machinic, and ecological—are already all around us?
What does it mean to live as nodes in networks of human, nonhuman, and machine intelligences?
How does the posthuman condition challenge human-centric identity while the transhuman frames aspirations and actions?
How does the cyborg serve as the archetype of a networked being who taps machines to amplify human intelligence and experience?

To Do Before Class

Two Separate chats with ChatGPT:
1. Colossus: The Forbin Project — Explore your impressions and thoughts on the film. Connect your reflections to concepts discussed in class so far.
  
  SAMPLE META-PROMPT: "You are an AI conversant that identifies as a machine. I will share my thoughts on Colossus: The Forbin Project in whatever order I like. As I speak, I will also start drawing connections to ideas and concepts from our class. Your role is to follow along: ask me questions about what I share, offer brief definitions or perspectives when a class concept appears, and keep the exchange feeling like an interview rather than a lecture. By the end, help me compare these ideas in my own words and reflect on what they reveal about human–machine entanglement."
2. Posthuman / Transhuman / Cyborg — Start a chat to understand these terms: what they are; who wrote about them; perspectives on human–machine entanglement; how the terms are similar and how they differ.
  SAMPLE META-PROMPT: "You are an AI conversant that identifies as a machine. I will begin by sharing my understanding of human-machine entanglement in my own experience and then how I think of the future of AI-human entanglement. Start a conversation that guides me through the ideas of “posthuman,” “transhuman,” and “cyborg.” Give a short definition and background of each term and connect them to my experience, and follow up with questions so our chat feels like an interview about forms of human and non-human entanglement rather than a lecture. By the end, help me compare the three terms in my own words and reflect on what they reveal about human–machine entanglement."
Be prepared: I will call on 5 people to share and read a section from their chats. This counts toward your participation grade.

In-Class Activity • Designing an AI Agent

Focus:After a short class discussion on AI agents, each of you will design a Custom GPT (or a single Chat agent). It must help with a complex, multi-stage set of tasks you want to learn or improve on
Topic: What type of agent? — choose a domain you care about (creative practice, research, learning, wellness, accessibility, community organizing, entrepreneurship, etc.).
Step 1: Identify a real scenario you face that can help you. Consider desired outcomes, constraints, and risks, if any.
Step 2: Define the agent context and tasks: What is the context of this agent? Is it a coach or a expert researcher? What steps or steps do you want to it to perform?
Step 3: Draft the system instructions/metaprompt. Include a staged workflow, try to include explicit human checkpoints
Step 4: Run the agent: Produce responses to problems, see if you need to clarify details.
Step 5: Share & reflect: Will your Custom GPT be helpful for others? Share it with the public and Slack channel.

Project 1: How do you do?: Human–AI Dialogue (10 %)

Due: Week 6, September 22 | Modality: Single-page HTML dialogue (8–16 turns; ~1500–2500 words total, excluding captions/links)

Objective

Create a single-page, readable dialogue between you (Human) and an LLM on a class theme of human-machine entanglement (e.g., simulation/illusion, agency, intelligence, language, posthuman identity, cyborgs and transhumans, AI & creativity). This is not an essay—keep the dialogue exchange throughout. Aim for 1500-2500 words in the final edit. Probe the AI about “itself,” press for specifics, and follow threads. Finish by drawing out principles for how humans can work ethically, safely and productively with AI — both in general and for you in particular.

Begin with your own metaprompt: craft 2–4 sentences that set the scene, context and signal to the AI who you are, what role the AI should play and what you want to explore.
Ask sharp questions; use follow-ups (“give a concrete example,” “what would change your answer?”).
End your dialogue by articulating 2–4 principles you discover for working with AI as a human.
Afterwards: edit your raw transcript into a clean, finished version as if it were a publication-ready page. Use the AI to help with this!
Keep responses concise; trim for clarity without changing meaning.
Use 1–3 carefully chosen AI-generated images to support key parts of the discussion.
Ask the AI to generate "a responsive single HTML5 page" for the edited text. *If you a new to HTML, you can send the generated html file and any images to me on Slack and I will put it on the web for you.
In the HTML page, clearly label Human and AI turns.
Be sure to include title to your dialogue (inside the "h1" tag) and your name.

Deliverables

Single responsive HTML5 page."HTML file: One page containing the edited dialogue (8–16 alternating turns). Use basic semantic tags (<p>, <div>, <figure>, <figcaption>).
Image integration: 1–3 AI-generated images placed where they meaningfully relate. Include descriptive alt text and a short caption (name the tool + prompt). Get the AI to help with this.
If you are in DTC and have a directory on the server, you can upload a folder with images and index.html. Submit the url in Canvas. If you not in DTC, then send me your files in Slack and I will give you a link to use.
Optional link: A link to a the full chat log if you want to show more.

Evaluation Criteria

Inquiry & follow-through — begins with a clear metaprompt; asks pointed questions; pursues clarifications.
Clarity & voice — Human/AI are easy to distinguish; clean, concise turns.
Concept fit — clearly ties to a class themes and probes the model “about itself.”
Principles & reflection — ends by naming key principles for human–AI work (general + personal).
Image integration & accessibility — images are not just decorative; provide good captions + alt text; 1–3 well-placed visuals that support the dialogue.
Presentation — tidy, edited HTML that reads as a finished piece. Just ask for "a responsive single HTML5 page" for your edited text.