ATS2935 · Automated Media

Overview

Our cultural and media lives are increasingly shaped by automation. In this unit you will examine the pervasive role of personalised feeds, recommendation systems, algorithms and artificial intelligence in everyday life. Drawing on examples from music, film, news, gaming, television, art, or social media, you will learn how technologies of automation are transforming cultural production, distribution and consumption. Topics may include: the cultural and economic logics of platforms, the politics of how content is made visible and discoverable, how algorithms shape our exposure to media and culture, how media makers are working with and against automation, and how we try to curate our own algorithms. Through a combination of case studies, conceptual analysis and independent research, you will investigate the evolution of automated systems, their impact on established media and cultural industries, and the emergence of new algorithmic cultures that influence our own sense of self, creativity and autonomy.

Areas of study: Communications and media studies Media

Offerings

Assessment

The Handbook does not list a final examination among the assessment items. That is not a guarantee there is none.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Assessment details may change. Please refer to the assessment information in Moodle closer to the start of the teaching period.

Requisites

Learning outcomes

1. critically discuss the social and cultural impacts of automation;
2. analyse the impacts of automation on existing media and cultural industries;
3. engage with key scholarship and public debates on the role of automated systems in contemporary society;
4. evaluate how individuals, creators and organisations can critically and responsibly engage with automated media;
5. effectively communicate arguments and insights about automated media using written and media elements.

Workload

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

Student experience, not official rules. Nothing here changes what the Handbook says.