Networks (23)
Find narratives by ethical themes or by technologies.
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- 10 min
- MEL Beta
- 2019
The continued existence of pirating websites such as The Pirate Bay demonstrates how digital technologies can be used against institutions such as copyright, and further designates the idea of a completely free and open internet.
- MEL Beta
- 2019
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- 10 min
- MEL Beta
- 2019
After 15 Years, The Pirate Bay Still Can’t Be Killed
The continued existence of pirating websites such as The Pirate Bay demonstrates how digital technologies can be used against institutions such as copyright, and further designates the idea of a completely free and open internet.
Why are communities online so hard to shut down? Can the internet ever be entirely free and open, as the founders of TPB discuss? What would be the consequences of this? Is the digital world decreasing the value of art forms such as recorded songs or films?
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- 6 min
- Kinolab
- 2019
In an imagined future of London, citizens all across the globe are connected to the Feed, a device and network accessed constantly through a brain-computer interface. Kate Hatfield, a new mother, discovers that someone has hacked into the device in her head, and thus was able to access some of her lived memories. Later, the culprit of this hack is revealed to be her father-in-law Lawrence, who was attempting to implant the Feed into Bea, the new baby.
- Kinolab
- 2019
Consent and Control with Personal Data
In an imagined future of London, citizens all across the globe are connected to the Feed, a device and network accessed constantly through a brain-computer interface. Kate Hatfield, a new mother, discovers that someone has hacked into the device in her head, and thus was able to access some of her lived memories. Later, the culprit of this hack is revealed to be her father-in-law Lawrence, who was attempting to implant the Feed into Bea, the new baby.
What are the dangers that come with ‘backing up’ memory to some type of cloud account? What risks are posed by hackers and corporations that run such backing up services? Is there something special about the transient, temporary nature of human memory that should remain as it is? How much of our privacy are we willing to sacrifice in order for safety/connectivity? How should consent work in terms of installing a brain-computer interface into a person? Should a parent or other family member be able to decide this for a child?
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2016
Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased selfish woman, ended up in the utopic afterlife The Good Place by mistake after her death. She spins an elaborate web of lies to ensure that she is not sent to be tortured in The Bad Place. In this narrative, the demons of the Bad Place try to wrest Eleanor’s soul away from the Good Place by convincing her that this is where she truly belongs. This resonates with Eleanor, who was always a lone wolf and never found a community of people who she liked. Ultimately, though, she fights to stay in the Good Place because of the fondness she has for the community of people who she knows there.
- Kinolab
- 2016
Community and Belonging
Eleanor Shellstrop, a deceased selfish woman, ended up in the utopic afterlife The Good Place by mistake after her death. She spins an elaborate web of lies to ensure that she is not sent to be tortured in The Bad Place. In this narrative, the demons of the Bad Place try to wrest Eleanor’s soul away from the Good Place by convincing her that this is where she truly belongs. This resonates with Eleanor, who was always a lone wolf and never found a community of people who she liked. Ultimately, though, she fights to stay in the Good Place because of the fondness she has for the community of people who she knows there.
Can our desire to be better outweigh our past actions? How do digital technologies help people find communities where they feel they belong? Does the intention to improve as a person matter just as much as actually improving as a person?
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- 10 min
- Kinolab
- 2018
Cassius “Cash” Green is a telemarketer who is taught to harness his “white voice,” which essentially means to exude privilege, in order to reach success. While this does eventually earn him upward mobility within the corporation RegalView, an owner of the controversial labor-contracting company WorryFree, his new status begins to conflict with his friends’ unionized protest efforts against the corporation.
- Kinolab
- 2018
Identity and Mobility in a Techno-capitalist Economy
Cassius “Cash” Green is a telemarketer who is taught to harness his “white voice,” which essentially means to exude privilege, in order to reach success. While this does eventually earn him upward mobility within the corporation RegalView, an owner of the controversial labor-contracting company WorryFree, his new status begins to conflict with his friends’ unionized protest efforts against the corporation.
Have corporations become more or less adept at image control in the digital age? Does the common laborer have any more of a voice than they did before digital communication channels? How might the “white voice” be interpreted as commentary on how digital communication channels allow one to act in a completely different identity, no matter how false it is?
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- 9 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will Caster is an artificial intelligence scientist whose consciousness his wife Evelyn uploaded to the internet after his premature death. Dr. Caster used his access to the internet to grant himself vast intelligence, creating a technological utopia called Brightwood in the desert to get enough solar power to develop cutting-edge digital projects. Specifically, he uses nanotechnology to cure fatal or longtime inflictions on people, inserting tiny robots into their bodies to help cells recover. However, it is soon revealed that these nanorobots stay inside their human hosts, allowing Will to project his consciousness into them and generally control them, along with other inhuman traits.
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will, Evelyn, and Max Part II: Medical Nanotechnology and Networked Humans
Will Caster is an artificial intelligence scientist whose consciousness his wife Evelyn uploaded to the internet after his premature death. Dr. Caster used his access to the internet to grant himself vast intelligence, creating a technological utopia called Brightwood in the desert to get enough solar power to develop cutting-edge digital projects. Specifically, he uses nanotechnology to cure fatal or longtime inflictions on people, inserting tiny robots into their bodies to help cells recover. However, it is soon revealed that these nanorobots stay inside their human hosts, allowing Will to project his consciousness into them and generally control them, along with other inhuman traits.
Should nanotechnology be used for medical purposes if it can easily be abused to take away the autonomy of the host? How can use of nanotechnology avoid this critical pitfall? How can seriously injured people consent to such operations in a meaningful way? What are the implications of nanotechnology being used to create technological or real-life underclasses? Should human brains ever be networked to each other, or to any non-human device, especially one that has achieved singularity?
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- 14 min
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will Caster and his wife Evelyn work together on a project known as “Transcendence,” in which he hopes to help artificial intelligence attain singularity by figuring out how to pair sentience with its massive intelligence. After he is shot dead by an anti-technology terrorist group, his consciousness is uploaded virtually, allowing him to continue his life as a coded program. After this digitally immortal consciousness is paired with the internet, Will’s powers grow immensely, and his manipulative reach becomes global.
- Kinolab
- 2014
Will, Evelyn, and Max Part I: Digital Resurrection and Incorporation
Will Caster and his wife Evelyn work together on a project known as “Transcendence,” in which he hopes to help artificial intelligence attain singularity by figuring out how to pair sentience with its massive intelligence. After he is shot dead by an anti-technology terrorist group, his consciousness is uploaded virtually, allowing him to continue his life as a coded program. After this digitally immortal consciousness is paired with the internet, Will’s powers grow immensely, and his manipulative reach becomes global.
Are digitally uploaded consciousnesses technically the real person, or just an imitation? Should digital immortality be allowed if it means digital humans may have far more power than living humans? If people become able to upload consciousnesses, how should they be kept from abusing vast networks? If or when technology reaches the singularity point, how should this be regulated, and how can it be ensured that such powerful technology is not abused for hegemonic purposes?