Possible Design Brief
Not all democracy is the same, indeed, philosophers have debated what constitutes democracy since its origins. If we beleive that we can design technology to enact poltical theory, or "do politics," then it stands to reason that we can design technology to do different forms of democracy. Research at least two constrasting theories of democracy and design a Twitter bot that attempts to enact each political theory.
Questions for reflection
- Do some political theories seems more difficult than others to translate into software? Why do you think that is the case?
- What is lost in translation from theory to code? What is gained?
- Should we consider Twitter bots as unique political actors, or are they simply extensions of human intention and voice?
Select Articles
- A Protest Bot is a Bot So Specific You Can’t Mistake it for Bullshit: A call for bots of conviction, Mark Sample
https://medium.com/@samplereality/a-protest-bot-is-a-bot-so-specific-you-cant-mistake-it-for-bullshit-90fe10b7fbaa#.rfirqiu6s - How to Think About Bots, A botifesto by Samuel Woolley, danah boyd, Meredith Broussard, Madeleine Elish, Lainna Fader, Tim Hwang, Alexis Lloyd, Gilad Lotan, Luis Daniel Palacios, Allison Parrish, Gilad Rosner, Saiph Savage, and Samantha Shorey
https://points.datasociety.net/how-to-think-about-bots-1ccb6c396326#.93dfff3qm - Politics of Post-Representationm, Hito Steyerl
http://dismagazine.com/disillusioned-2/62143/hito-steyerl-politics-of-post-representation/
Notable Bot Designers
- Darius Kazemi http://tinysubversions.com
- Katie Pipkin, http://katierosepipkin.com
Related DILAC Project
Making Critical Computing, http://makingcriticalcomputing.tumblr.com
Select News Stories
- MIT's DeepDrumpf Twitter Bot Uses Neural Networks To Tweet Like Donald Trump
http://www.fastcodesign.com/3057501/mits-deepdrumpf-twitter-bot-uses-neural-networks-to-tweet-like-donald-trump - How to Make a Not Racist Bot
http://motherboard.vice.com/read/how-to-make-a-not-racist-bot