
The Atlantic is one of my favourite sources for ITGS and Computer Science news articles. Checking back today after a couple of busy weeks, there are several excellent articles that link perfectly to ITGS, Computer Science, and TOK.
The AI-Art Gold Rush Is Here
AI generated art has been around for some time, with Harold Cohen’s AARON being one of the first to become widely known. This article follows the sale of Portrait of Edmond de Belamy, an AI-generated piece of artwork that fetched over $400,000 at auction. The article describes the way the image was created, linking to HL artificial intelligence topics. It also examines who the artist is and where the creativity resides – excellent questions for TOK links in ITGS. It also raises related TOK issues such as how we judge the quality of art, and how the context of art affects the value we assign it. Read more about AI & Art or the full news article.
The Servant Economy
Uber, perhaps surprisingly, is ten years old this month. It was one of the first of a new generation of ‘on demand’ or ‘hailing’ apps which now include transport, grocery delivery, dog walking, and much more. The industry has often been criticised over workers’ rights and benefits, and even likened to modern day slavery. The Servant Economy article examines the successes and failures of ‘on demand’ businesses and discusses how they might fare in the future. Read the full article.
The Microphones That May Be Hidden in Your Home
Smart appliances in the modern home can have monitoring functionality unbeknownst to the user. Previously smart TVs have been found to monitor users and Amazon’s Alexa was part of a privacy scandal last year. The issue is set to become more prevalent and smart devices become more popular. One of my students is even writing an ITGS EE about this topic.
The Microphones That May Be Hidden in Your Home examines similar issues with Google Nest. The company recently announced for the first time that Nest contains a hidden microphone, which Google has never mentioned previously. This article examines the possible privacy implications and clearly raises ITGS policy issues too. Read the full article.
I’ve written many posts about ITGS news articles on this blog – they are all accessible from the news article section.

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