User:Tancre/2/project proposal

Draft 1

What do you want to make?
My final outcome would be a series of experiments unpacking software's complexity and showing how software mirrors our mind. This project is a continuation of my past research on the understanding of consciousness through free experimentations with software and code(The dot, Wittgenstein's Tractatus, A text within a map).

The different experimentations should be small prototypes materializing the main topics of my thesis, for example:

• infinite space
• language maze
• speed of communication
• hyper-self and states of flow
• subject-object relation

A bit of theoretical background... The hardware, through a maze of layers of language, produces a proto-subjectivity in the software, and in the same way, the body produces a complete subjectivity (consciousness) in the mind. This quasi-isomorphic relation permits to transfer parts of our mind in the software environment, in particular, the illusion? of infinite space inhabited by dynamic and interactive objects that we can observe and play with.
Before the digital age our mind was limited to a static (subject-object) relation to the external reality, with software and interfaces our mind reaches a new level of expansion (subject-interface-object) relation to the outside world (an expansion that through the ubicomp will reach the 'everyware'.
I'm interested in research this new condition from the existential consciousness triggers by machines in humans (digital existentialism), instead of the mainstream and fiction idea of the AI.

How do you plan to make it?
On one hand, I will work on small prototypes, on the other end I will develop a narrative to show those prototypes in an environment coherent to the research. For example:

• map a sensor in an interactive graphic, but also show the data flow in the graphic itself ().
• show the workflow from the desktop perspective

• close reading of relevant texts and network of thoughts between them / mapping concepts + commentaries
• write texts to define this digital existentialism and my specifics interests in it (critique of AI / iperself / software studies / ...)
• experiments with UI (CLI, GUI, ZUI])
• experiments with capture human communication then mapped to move something else, always in a multisensorial stimulation approach (mapping movements, sounds, buttons, facial recognition etc..) + (arduino or raspberry pi for feedback)
• experiments with how machines are being developed to recognize (words, emotions ...)
• ...

What is your timetable?

Why do you want to make it?

Who can help you and how?

Relations to previous practice

• the dot - infinite space
• wittgenstein's tractatus - language maze
• a map within a text (SI8) - infinite space and interface to map the mind
• thoughts on the book's condition in the digital age (SI9) - 'living text' and 'in-timeness' of the book as extension of a static world of the mind into a dynamic and interactive one

Relations to a larger context
too many..

Steve's feedback

[Steve’s feedback,

1)The reader needs a very clear idea of what you are going to make in more concrete terms. 2) there needs to be a clear distinction between the thesis and the project proposal. The two seem to be getting tangled up here. This proposal is designed to focus on what you could make in the next months, what are the possible outcomes? In this draft you return to the ‘topics of the thesis’ without giving substantial account of what could be made to support that thesis.]'

[How to proceed. Here I will go into your text and suggest how 1) and 2) can be addressed

Begin with the prototypes. Explain what they will be in as much detail as possible and THEN unpack how these experiments relate to the theory you are interested in. How can this be done?]

[In your text you give examples:] “On one hand, I will work on small prototypes, on the other end I will develop a narrative to show those prototypes in an environment coherent to the research. For example:

• map a sensor in an interactive graphic, but also show the data flow in the graphic itself ().
• show the workflow from the desktop perspective”

[Give the reader a lot more detail on these projects:] “* map a sensor in an interactive graphic, but also show the data flow in the graphic itself ().” [<here walk the reader through the stages of the project through description, and then reflect on how this might relate to your theoretical concerns.]

“* show the workflow from the desktop perspective”

[<Again, describe the stages necessary to achieve this (what, how, why)].

What do you want to make?
My final outcome would be a series of experiments unpacking software's complexity and showing how software mirrors our mind. This project is a continuation of my past research on the understanding of consciousness through free experimentations with software and code (The dot, Wittgenstein's Tractatus, A text within a map). [name the projects and make links]

The different experimentations should be small prototypes materializing the main topics of my thesis (see thesis outline), for example:

• infinite space [<give a description of a project which would deal with this (what, how, why, be as specific as possible]
• language maze [<give a description of a project which would deal with this (what, how, why]
• speed of communication [give a description of a project which would deal with this (what, how, why]
• hyper-self and states of flow [give a description of a project which would deal with this (what, how, why]
• subject-object relation [give a description of a project which would deal with this (what, how, why]

A bit of theoretical background... The hardware, through a maze of layers of language, produces a proto-subjectivity in the software, and in the same way, the body produces a complete subjectivity (consciousness) in the mind. [<this is a big claim, who else is making it, give citation]This quasi-isomorphic relation permits to transfer parts of our mind in the software environment, in particular, the illusion? of infinite space inhabited by dynamic and interactive objects that we can observe and play with.
Before the digital age our mind was limited to a static (subject-object) relation to the external reality, with software and interfaces our mind reaches a new level of expansion (subject-interface-object) relation to the outside world (an expansion that through the ubicomp will reach the 'everyware'.

[<<Give citation (s) if available; who says this?]

I'm interested in research this new condition from the existential consciousness triggers by machines in humans (digital existentialism), instead of the mainstream and fiction idea of the AI.

[<Is the claim that a). consciousness is now constructed in relation to software (in the sense that ‘discourse produces its objects’) or are you saying b.) new conceptions of what consciousness is are possible (because the ‘mind-body’ duality is problematized by a human-machine relationship which is mediated by software)? Either way, some clarity is needed here and you need to give citations on your side of the argument.)

How do you plan to make it?

On one hand, I will work on small prototypes, on the other end I will develop a narrative to show those prototypes in an environment coherent to the research. [this is not clear what is the outcome of ‘developing a narrative’?] For example:

• map a sensor in an interactive graphic, but also show the data flow in the graphic itself ().
• show the workflow from the desktop perspective

• close reading of relevant texts and network of thoughts between them / mapping concepts + commentaries [give a description of the form/s such close reading will take (what, how, why]
• write texts to define this digital existentialism and my specifics interests in it (critique of AI / iperself / software studies / ...) [see thesis outline]
• experiments with UI (CLI, GUI, ZUI]) [give a description of the form/s such experiments will take (what, how, why]

• experiments with capture human communication then mapped to move something else, always in a multisensorial stimulation approach (mapping movements, sounds, buttons, facial recognition etc..) + (arduino or raspberry pi for feedback)

[<<give a description of the form/s such experiments will take (what, how, why]

• experiments with how machines are being developed to recognize (words, emotions ...)
• ... [give a description of the form/s such close reading will take (what, how, why]

What is your timetable?

[details please]

Why do you want to make it?

Who can help you and how?

Draft 2

What do you want to make?
I want to produce a piece of software to visualize software as a whole (code/compilation/execution/manifestation), and an AI capable of raising awareness of the existential condition of the user. These projects are meant to help the understanding of software themselves, usually taken for granted and misunderstood as a whole, while at the same time help the understanding of the human condition through the lens of software.

How do you plan to make it?
To address these issues related to the misunderstanding of software, I will get involved in producing and analyze different pieces of software. This process will lead me to become aware of the software as a whole, while a reflection on the experience will raise awareness of my human condition related to software.
On one hand, I will deconstruct the structure and codes of pieces of software stored on Github. Furthermore, Github store the history of the code revealing its development. After that, I'll try to recompose those elements inside an interface to visualize all the layers of its structure in parallel, as a whole (multitasking software).
On the other hand, I will explore the code of the early AI 'ELIZA' and the intelligent user interface 'Clippy' the Office Assistant. Both are examples of a failure of the intention of their design, one for the humanization of it and the second for the failure of this humanization. By learning and playing with their codes, I will frame the relationship between human being and AI as a process to raise awareness of the human condition through the lens of software.

What is your timetable?
October

week 1 > open and try 'Eliza' and 'Clippy' / make a map of their structure / take a look to Github API / take a look to D3.js / start to built a dedicated website for those projects

week 2 > start to edit the AIs / try the API and start to get datas from the repositories of related projects / use the datas with D3.js in the dedicated website

week 3 > continue editing the AIs (eventually search others) / continue with D3.js (eventually mixed with other libraries or search something new)

week 4 > check point to see the evolution of the AIs (I could store and modify the code on Github to explore my developement) and the websites

November (TBD)

week 1 >

week 2 >

week 3 >

week 4 >

December (TBD)

week 1 >

week 2 >

week 3 >

week 4 >

Why do you want to make it?
I want to question how our relationship with software can change how we think about software and our 'weltanschauung'. Too many times I felt constrained by the materialistic approach to resolve human questions and, albeit not negating the material aspect, I want to drive the research on software on analyzing them as a vector to understand human experience. Instead of the popular and ideologic understanding of software in the framework of the AI, idealized both in its intelligence and its evilness, I want to develop a different narrative, not based on the AI as good but the AI as a tool to understand human experience with software and life.

Who can help you and how?
Michael / Aymeric / Andre / Alex
Steve / Florian / ...others

Relations to previous practice

• the dot - infinite space
• wittgenstein's tractatus - language maze
• a map within a text (SI8) - infinite space and interface to map the mind
• thoughts on the book's condition in the digital age (SI9) - 'living text' and 'in-timeness' of the book as extension of a static world of the mind into a dynamic and interactive one

Relations to a larger context
- Software studies
- Artificial intelligence
- Post-autonomia
- Existentialism
- software art / net art / poetic software

Relevant projects
I/O/D - web stalker > for the alternative visualization of a website and its approach in parallel through a software
Weizenbaum - ELIZA > for the therapeutic-psychoanalytical approach and the interaction which triggers you to question if the machine you are interacting with is alive. [This aliveness question is the vector of the human experience here directed to the AI, while I want it to direct to the user]

Main References

[There are not many contemporary texts here. If you are going to explore the proposition that “proto-subjectivity is produced in the software” I suggest you tap into the current arguments related to AI (I gave you a few leads last week). There is a need to frame the classic positions within a contemporary context. This is the context in which arguments about the possibilities and affordance of AI and machine-human interfaces have been framed.].

• Karl Marx - Fragment on Machines (from Grundrisse - 1858)
• Martin Heidegger - The Question Concerning Technology (1954)
• Jean Baudrillard - The Ecstasy of Communication (from The Other By Himself - 1987)
• Félix Guattari - On Machines (1990)
• Friedrich Kittler - There is No Software (1995)

Other arguments:

Cybernetic / AI
Rosenblueth, Wiener - Behavior, purpose and teleology (1943)
Turing - computing machinery and intelligence (1950)
Weizenbaum - Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment To Calculation (1976)
Dreyfuss - Alchemy and AI (1965) / What Computers Can't Do (1972) / Mind over Machine (1986)
Agre - Computation and human experience (1997)
Johnston - The allure of machinic life (2008)

Post-human / Augmented Intelligence
Bush - As we may think (1945)
Clark & Chalmers - the extended mind (1998)
Hayles - What does it means to be posthuman?(1999) / Nass & Yen – The Man Who Lied to His Laptop: What Machines Teach Us About Human Relationships (2010)
De Landa - Philosophy & Simulation: The Emergence of Synthetic Reason (2011)
Pasquinelli - Augmented Intelligence (2014) / Alleys of Your Mind: Augmented Intelligence and Its Traumas (2015)

Algorithmic capitalism
Plant, Land - Cyberpositive (1994)
Fisher - Capitalist realism (2009)
Pasquinelli - The eye of the algorithm (2014)/ Metadata society (2014)

Software studies
Fuller - It looks like you're writing a letter: Microsoft Word (2000) / Behind the blip. Essays on the culture of software (2003) / Software Studies - A lexicon (2008)
Hayles - Traumas of code (2006)
Manovich - The language of new media (2001)
Roidl - Poetic software (2019)

Conceptual art & Software art
Kosuth - Art after philosophy. The meaning of conceptual art (1969)
Cramer - Software art (2001) / Concepts, notations, software, art (2002) / Contextualizing software art (2002) / Ten theses about software art (2003)

Subject-object relation (Psychoanalysis, Eroticism & Limit Experience)
Freud - Three essays on the theory of sexuality (1905) / Civilization and its discontent (1930)
Lacan - (from seminars)
Bataille - Introduction to Sade (from 'literature and evil' - 1957)
Foucault - A Preface To Transgression (1963)