SAMENVATTING DIGITALIZATION
Bachelor Communicatiewetenschappen
Academiejaar 2024-2025
Instelling: KUleuven
,LESSON 1: DIGITZALIZATION AND THE CHALLENGES OF AI – STEF AUPERS
1.1 THREE WAVES OF DIGITILIZATION
Digitalization = the spread of digital media and its effect on individuals and society (digital media is distinct
from traditional media, such as films and radio)
50 years: three converging waves of digitalization and their influence on society
• Personal Computer
• Internet and social media
• Artificial Intelligence
§ AI: a social science perspective
1. First wave of digitalization – Personal Computer
IBM computers in the 1950’
• A few giant mainframe computers that occupied an entire room
• The futurists predicted that society and governments would need only 10 to 12 of these calculating
machines (“we don’t need more than that”)
• A clear example of how history cannot always be used to predict the future
The democratic promise of the PC
• 1950’ - "hacker ethic": very different from how hackers are perceived today. It wasn’t about
stealing information but rather about a deep curiosity and passion for experimenting with digital
computer technology. These early hackers were frustrated that computers were only accessible to
governments and large institutions
• 1960s–1970s - Hackers and hippies in Silicon Valley, rebelling against the government, wanted to
bring computing power to the people. Computers were fun, efficient, and life-improving—useful for
games, calculations, and more. They merged with the San Francisco hippie culture, striving for
democracy and individual freedom
• Goal: “Bringing Computer Power to the People”
• 1975 - first Personal Computer (Apple): the product of a counter culture of hackers , technological
people and hippies
• 1975-1985 - the development, mass-production and commercialization of the Personal Computer
2. Second wave digitalization – internet and social media
The democratic promise of the internet
• Web 1.0 1990’ - Interconnected PCs allowed users to visit websites: there was minimal interaction
- mostly just visiting websites with little connection between users
• Web 2.0 2000’ - social media platforms and User Generated Content (USG): with facebook as the
pionier and afterwards everything like Instagram, Twitter, …
§ It launches a very democratic idea: technology that promises a better future, not political
ideas or ideologies. The democratic promise was that we could all connect and share
information. The internet became a giant library of knowledge, now accessible to everyone.
• Time magazine (2008) – Person of the Year: “you” was person of the year; since now we have our
PC’s , you can access the internet and connect on social media, a global evironment were everybody
can connect.
, • Facebook (2004) - blueprint social infrastructure internet: “making the world more open and
connected” (Mark Zuckerberg, 2010)
• From democratization to ‘surveillance capitalism’ (Zuboff)?: refers to the shift from the internet
being a tool for free information exchange and empowerment to a system where personal data is
collected and monetized, often through surveillance and algorithm-driven manipulation
3. Third wave digitalization – Artificial Intelligence
(Artificial Intelligence is a recent phenomonem in our everyday live, but it has a long history)
• Jhon McCarthy (1927-2011) – mathematician/ scientist
• Marvin Minsky (1927 – 2016)
• These two men are the pioniers in this field
• Introduction concept “artificial intelligence” at DartMouth Conference 1955:
§ Goal: “… making a machine behave in ways that would be called intelligent if a human were
so behaving” (1955)
• We already have machines stronger than humans, like digging machines, extending physical
capabilities. AI takes it a step further—promising machines that are smarter than humans (in
cognitive sense)
Basic forms of AI
dark blue: 1950’; light blue: now
1. Weak AI
• Artificial intelligence that imitates our coginitive functions but takes one particular task/ just one
function of our brains
• For example: In 1997, world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to Deep Blue, a chess-playing
computer, proving that AI could surpass humans in chess
• It’s a program that’s very easy, not overly complex, with just one task
2. Strong AI
• Artificial Intelligence that has the opportunity to speak, understand language, generate meaningful
sentences, possess extensive knowledge on various topics, … = perform tasks that humans can do
too
, 3. Top Down AI
• Artificial Intelligence that is instructed how to deal in particular situations
• All instructions, no interpretation
• The computer doesn’t learn anything, it just does wat is instructed to do (no learning involved)
4. Bottom up AI (=emergent AI)
• Artificial Intelligence that is self-learning (self-learning computers)
• "evolutionary computing": it’s like an organism—just as we learn, acquire information, reflect, and
adapt based on what we’ve learned, computers can now do the same. They adjust to situations and
evolve based on the data they process
1.2 THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE ON AI
Since its launch in the 1950s, artificial intelligence has always raised deep philosophical and existential
questions: what is exactly the difference between our human intelligence and the intelligence of a
computer? Is het intelligence of a computer real intelligence? When can we say that a computer has
consciousness just like us?...
• Some philosophers offer answers to these questions: Alan Turing (1912-1954) VS John Searle
(1932-)
1. Is AI ‘really’ intelligent? The Turing Test (1950) Alan Turing (1912-1954)
• How can AI/ a machine considered intelligent like human being/ and if so how can we deside that
• A particular test wether AI is intelligent or not (Turing test)
• Turing test: a human judge sits in front of a screen and communicates with both a human and a
computer, without knowing which is which. If the judge cannot reliably distinguish (after 8 minutes)
the machine from the human, the computer is considered to have passed the test/ we can speak about
an intelligent machine
• This also reflects back on how we perceive ourselves: our brains function like software programs,
shaped by both socialization and genetics. In a way, this challenges the idea that humans are as
uniquely intelligent as we often believe
2. Is AI ‘really’ intelligent? The chinese room experiment (Searle 1980)
Bachelor Communicatiewetenschappen
Academiejaar 2024-2025
Instelling: KUleuven
,LESSON 1: DIGITZALIZATION AND THE CHALLENGES OF AI – STEF AUPERS
1.1 THREE WAVES OF DIGITILIZATION
Digitalization = the spread of digital media and its effect on individuals and society (digital media is distinct
from traditional media, such as films and radio)
50 years: three converging waves of digitalization and their influence on society
• Personal Computer
• Internet and social media
• Artificial Intelligence
§ AI: a social science perspective
1. First wave of digitalization – Personal Computer
IBM computers in the 1950’
• A few giant mainframe computers that occupied an entire room
• The futurists predicted that society and governments would need only 10 to 12 of these calculating
machines (“we don’t need more than that”)
• A clear example of how history cannot always be used to predict the future
The democratic promise of the PC
• 1950’ - "hacker ethic": very different from how hackers are perceived today. It wasn’t about
stealing information but rather about a deep curiosity and passion for experimenting with digital
computer technology. These early hackers were frustrated that computers were only accessible to
governments and large institutions
• 1960s–1970s - Hackers and hippies in Silicon Valley, rebelling against the government, wanted to
bring computing power to the people. Computers were fun, efficient, and life-improving—useful for
games, calculations, and more. They merged with the San Francisco hippie culture, striving for
democracy and individual freedom
• Goal: “Bringing Computer Power to the People”
• 1975 - first Personal Computer (Apple): the product of a counter culture of hackers , technological
people and hippies
• 1975-1985 - the development, mass-production and commercialization of the Personal Computer
2. Second wave digitalization – internet and social media
The democratic promise of the internet
• Web 1.0 1990’ - Interconnected PCs allowed users to visit websites: there was minimal interaction
- mostly just visiting websites with little connection between users
• Web 2.0 2000’ - social media platforms and User Generated Content (USG): with facebook as the
pionier and afterwards everything like Instagram, Twitter, …
§ It launches a very democratic idea: technology that promises a better future, not political
ideas or ideologies. The democratic promise was that we could all connect and share
information. The internet became a giant library of knowledge, now accessible to everyone.
• Time magazine (2008) – Person of the Year: “you” was person of the year; since now we have our
PC’s , you can access the internet and connect on social media, a global evironment were everybody
can connect.
, • Facebook (2004) - blueprint social infrastructure internet: “making the world more open and
connected” (Mark Zuckerberg, 2010)
• From democratization to ‘surveillance capitalism’ (Zuboff)?: refers to the shift from the internet
being a tool for free information exchange and empowerment to a system where personal data is
collected and monetized, often through surveillance and algorithm-driven manipulation
3. Third wave digitalization – Artificial Intelligence
(Artificial Intelligence is a recent phenomonem in our everyday live, but it has a long history)
• Jhon McCarthy (1927-2011) – mathematician/ scientist
• Marvin Minsky (1927 – 2016)
• These two men are the pioniers in this field
• Introduction concept “artificial intelligence” at DartMouth Conference 1955:
§ Goal: “… making a machine behave in ways that would be called intelligent if a human were
so behaving” (1955)
• We already have machines stronger than humans, like digging machines, extending physical
capabilities. AI takes it a step further—promising machines that are smarter than humans (in
cognitive sense)
Basic forms of AI
dark blue: 1950’; light blue: now
1. Weak AI
• Artificial intelligence that imitates our coginitive functions but takes one particular task/ just one
function of our brains
• For example: In 1997, world chess champion Garry Kasparov lost to Deep Blue, a chess-playing
computer, proving that AI could surpass humans in chess
• It’s a program that’s very easy, not overly complex, with just one task
2. Strong AI
• Artificial Intelligence that has the opportunity to speak, understand language, generate meaningful
sentences, possess extensive knowledge on various topics, … = perform tasks that humans can do
too
, 3. Top Down AI
• Artificial Intelligence that is instructed how to deal in particular situations
• All instructions, no interpretation
• The computer doesn’t learn anything, it just does wat is instructed to do (no learning involved)
4. Bottom up AI (=emergent AI)
• Artificial Intelligence that is self-learning (self-learning computers)
• "evolutionary computing": it’s like an organism—just as we learn, acquire information, reflect, and
adapt based on what we’ve learned, computers can now do the same. They adjust to situations and
evolve based on the data they process
1.2 THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE ON AI
Since its launch in the 1950s, artificial intelligence has always raised deep philosophical and existential
questions: what is exactly the difference between our human intelligence and the intelligence of a
computer? Is het intelligence of a computer real intelligence? When can we say that a computer has
consciousness just like us?...
• Some philosophers offer answers to these questions: Alan Turing (1912-1954) VS John Searle
(1932-)
1. Is AI ‘really’ intelligent? The Turing Test (1950) Alan Turing (1912-1954)
• How can AI/ a machine considered intelligent like human being/ and if so how can we deside that
• A particular test wether AI is intelligent or not (Turing test)
• Turing test: a human judge sits in front of a screen and communicates with both a human and a
computer, without knowing which is which. If the judge cannot reliably distinguish (after 8 minutes)
the machine from the human, the computer is considered to have passed the test/ we can speak about
an intelligent machine
• This also reflects back on how we perceive ourselves: our brains function like software programs,
shaped by both socialization and genetics. In a way, this challenges the idea that humans are as
uniquely intelligent as we often believe
2. Is AI ‘really’ intelligent? The chinese room experiment (Searle 1980)
