Computer Science Off Course

Langdon Winner - Do Artifacts Have Politics?

Does software have politics? Are LLMs like power plants? Do ships need captains? In this final episode of our first season, we discuss these questions and take a look at Langdon Winner's paper "Do Artifacts Have Politics?" (1980). Spoiler alert: the answer to the question in this paper's title is a big, bold YES! According to Winner, there are two ways in which artifacts can have political properties. In our episode, we illustrate these with examples and apply Winner's observations to current technologies such as LLMs. We explore how the political properties of software can be accounted for in Computer Science education and establish links to prior episodes. As always, Felienne considers new tattoos, and Hanna finally does the homework she's been assigned. Links: Our Discord channel for the pod: https://discord.com/invite/Vt2Pcc44m6 Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e10/ Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e10-homework/ Mentions and references: Winner, L. (1980). Do Artifacts Have Politics? Daedalus, 109(1), 121–136. Published by: The MIT Press on behalf of American Academy of Arts & Sciences. URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20024652. Article on Robert Moses' Southern State Parkway's bridges: Campanella, T. J. (2017, July 9). Robert Moses and his racist Parkway, explained. Bloomberg.com. URL: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-07-09/robert-moses-and-his-racist-parkway-explained Winner's quote about the inevitable link between nuclear power and a techno-scientific industrial-military elite comes from: Mander, J. (1977). Four arguments for the elimination of television. William Morrow & Co. Jansen, F., Schraffenberger, H., & Jacobs, B. (2026, April). Decidos: Accessible, Usable and Secure Voting in Low-stakes Elections Using Identity Wallets. In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1-8). Kaltenbrunner, M., Jorda, S., Geiger, G., & Alonso, M. (2006, June). The reacTable*: A collaborative musical instrument. In 15th IEEE International Workshops on Enabling Technologies: Infrastructure for Collaborative Enterprises (WETICE'06) (pp. 406-411). IEEE. Wall of Sound (2008). Student project at Stuttgart Media University (HdM). Team: Steffel Abel, Tobias Adam, Simon Brenner, Andreas Jäger, Christian Schilling and Hanna Schraffenberger. See: https://vimeo.com/2477598 Audio and music credits: Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison - Objectivity

Imagine you're a scientist. What is it you are seeking: objectivity or truth? In this episode of Computer Science Off Course, we reflect on the aims of science in general and Computer Science in particular. We discuss the notion of objectivity and the role of emotion and fear in research. We take a look at Lorraine Daston and Peter Galison's book "Objectivity" (2021) and walk you through the three periods in the history of objectivity. Also, there is talk about the shape of splashes and the beauty of flowers. Felienne has plans for one or two new tattoos, and Hanna refuses to choose between objectivity and truth! Whether you are a scientist or not, if you are interested in knowledge, this episode is for you. Mentions and references: Daston, L., & Galison, P. L. (2021). Objectivity. Princeton University Press. We have a discord, please join: https://discord.com/invite/Vt2Pcc44m6 Feynman, R. (1981). The beauty of a flower [Video]. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p018w2zl. Also available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZbFM3rn4ldo van Duijn, M. J. (2016). The lazy mindreader: A humanities perspective on mindreading and multiple-order intentionality (Doctoral dissertation, Leiden University). Naur, P. (1985). Programming as theory building. Microprocessing and microprogramming, 15(5), 253-261. Shownotes have a character limit. For more references, please have a look at the homework Links: Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e09/ Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e09-homework/ Audio and music credits: Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Gavin Mueller - Breaking Things at Work

Are you a Luddite? No matter whether your answer is "yes," "no," or "maybe," this episode of Computer Science Off Course is for you. We discuss the book "Breaking Things at Work: The Luddites Are Right About Why You Hate Your Job" (2021) by Gavin Mueller. We talk about Luddism, both with a historical lens and from our current perspectives, and do not shy away from topics such as Marxism, Taylorism, and the question of whether computers can be good. Felienne brings various thought-provoking quotes and tells what she would love to break at work. Hanna, in contrast, ends up assembling T-shirts, confesses to being a hypocrite, and cites poetry for the homework. Mentions and references: Mueller, G. (2021). Breaking things at work: The Luddites are right about why you hate your job. Verso Books. Srinivasan, A. (2018). The aptness of anger. Journal of Political Philosophy, 26(2), 123-144. Schwarz Cowan, R. (1983). More work for mother. The ironies of household technology from the open hearth to the microwave. Basic Books. Gertz, N. (2024). Nihilism and technology. Bloomsbury Publishing. Benjamin, W., & Jennings, M. W. (2010). The work of art in the age of its technological reproducibility [first version]. Grey Room, (39), 11-37. Original by Benjamin in French from 1936. O'Hara, F. (1957). Why I am not a painter [Poem]. See: https://poets.org/poem/why-i-am-not-painter Goldberg, M. (1955). Sardines [Painting]. Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, DC, United States. See: https://americanart.si.edu/blog/eye-level/2012/30/685/why-i-am-notpainter-michael-goldbergs-sardines Offill, J. (2014). Dept. of Speculation. Granta Books. Links: Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e08/ Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e08-homework/ Audio and music credits: Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Sherry Turkle - The Second Self

What does using a computer do to you? If you use computers, laptops, phones, or play video games, this episode is for you! We discuss Sherry Turkle’s seminal book "The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit" (1984) and explore what happens while you are working with a computer. We also talk about the view of AI as a "colonizing discipline", people's obsession with programming, different meanings of transparency in computing, girls in computer science, and issues around creating an inclusive computer culture. As in earlier episodes, Felienne considers tattoo-worthy quotes, and Hanna goes off course in her homework! Mentions and references: Turkle, S. (2005). The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit. The MIT Press. Turkle, S. (2022). The Empathy Diaries: A Memoir. Penguin Publishing Group. Turkle, S. (2015). Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age. Penguin Publishing Group. Laurel, B. (2013). Computers as Theatre. Addison-Wesley. Adventure (Colossal Cave Adventure), an interactive text adventure game Zork, the text adventure game Felienne played as a kid ELIZA, the chatbot by Joseph Weizenbaum. David Foster Wallace unedited interview 2003, a video interview with David Foster Wallace that is briefly mentioned (the issue of being a grown-up is discussed in the video at 00:17:20) Links: Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e07/ Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e07-homework/ Audio and music credits: Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Joseph Weizenbaum - Computer Power and Human Reason

Are there things computers and AI should never do, even if they could? In this week’s episode, we discuss this question and take a look at Joseph Weizenbaum’s book “Computer Power and Human Reason” (1976). We learn about his famous chatbot ELIZA, the difference between deciding and choosing, and what Weizenbaum envisioned for Computer Science education. We notice connections to other thinkers we have discussed in earlier episodes, and before we know it, it feels like we are standing behind a crime scene evidence board, with red strings connecting the thoughts by Peter Naur, Gilbert Ryle, and Joseph Weizenbaum! Felienne picks another tattoo-worthy quote (spoiler: it’s about speaking to each other in silence!). In the end, Hanna pours her heart out to ELIZA and complains about Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT. Mentions: Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer power and human reason: From judgment to calculation. W. H. Freeman & Company. The ‘Pepe Silvia’ meme (from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” ): https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-silvia Emily M. Bender (Recorded March 25, 2025): The Great Chatbot Debate: Do LLMs Really Understand? [Video], see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtIQVaSS5Pg Peter Naur (1928 – 2016), Danish computer science pioneer, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Naur, discussed in S01E01 of our podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/computer-science-off-course/2968986/ Gilbert Ryle (1900 – 1976), British philosopher, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Ryle For the references to scientific articles, see: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e06-homework/ Links: Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e06/ Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e06-homework/ Audio and music credits: Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Lucy Suchman - Plans and Situated Actions

When did you last use a copy machine, and how did you do it? Did you follow a predetermined plan, use a manual, or did you figure out what to do along the way? In this episode, we discuss how people interact with machines and tackle the book "Plans and Situated Actions" (1987) by ethnographer Lucy Suchman. This book, in part, describes a famous study in which Suchman put cameras in a room with a new photocopier and observed people (smart computer people!) struggle with the interface. We discuss the impact of her work and relate it to today's AI discourse. As every week, Felienne brings great quotes, such as Suchman pointing out the "increasingly linguistic, rather than mechanistic" communication that people have with machines! Hanna is excited that we get to talk about one of the pioneers of the human-computer interaction research field and, in her homework, provides suggestions for how programmers can make (copy) machines more user-friendly. Mentions: Suchman, L. A. (1987). Plans and situated actions: The problem of human-machine communication. Cambridge University Press. Dingemanse, M., Torreira, F., & Enfield, N. J. (2013). Is “Huh?” a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items. PloS one, 8(11), e78273. Video of people using a photocopy machine by Austin Henderson and Lucy Suchman (1983) The cognitive walkthrough Links: Felienne's blog post Hanna’s homework Audio and music credits: Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Hubert Dreyfus - What Computers Can't Do

Is there something you wish computers could do but somehow, despite all the hype around AI, they still can't do it? In this episode, we discuss Hubert Dreyfus' book "What Computers Can't Do" (1972) and its updated revision, "What Computers Still Can't Do" (1992), both from historical and current AI perspectives. Our topics range from the limits of formalizing knowledge and fringe consciousness to dancing with strangers and picking a gift for a friend. Beyond Dreyfus, we also touch on ideas from Plato, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Searle, Joseph Weizenbaum, and Pierre Bourdieu. Felienne, like always, brings her favorite quotes. One is so beautiful, she would like to get it tattooed on her back. Hanna does the homework, and thinks of things computers should never do, even if they could. Mentions: Dreyfus, H. L. (1972). What computers can’t do: A critique of artificial reason Harper & Row. Dreyfus, H. L. (1992). What computers still can't do: A critique of artificial reason. MIT Press. Häagen-Bot ice cream eating machine comic by Doug Savage Links: Felienne's blog post Hanna’s homework Audio and music credits: Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Alan Turing - Computing Machinery and Intelligence

Has this text been written by an AI or by us, Felienne and Hanna? It's the latter! Why does this matter? This week, we discuss what it means when you can no longer tell human and machine output apart. For the first time, we discuss a paper we are not exactly ecstatic about. Namely, Alan Turing's 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," which introduced the famous Turing Test. Felienne has studied the paper in detail and points out so many problematic things about it. Hanna has finally done the assigned homework, but then goes off course again by turning it into a story about sex, robots, and weird party games. Mentions: Alan Turing's article: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950) Links: Felienne's blog post Hanna’s homework Audio and music credits: Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Brenda Laurel - Computers as Theatre

Are you playing a role when using a computer? We certainly are! In this episode, we connect the worlds of theatre and computers. We discuss Brenda Laurel's book "Computers as Theatre” (1991). Per usual, Felienne has read the book. And as it turns out, it gave her a new way to look at the world. Human-computer interfaces provide a stage for performances! Just like last week, Hanna is asking questions and is having trouble keeping her homework short. There is just so much to say about human-computer interaction, procrastination, slaying metaphorical dragons and the never-ending flow of emails. Links: Felienne's blog post and Hanna’s homework Mentions: Brenda Laurel’s book: Computers as Theatre (1991) Kathy Sierra’s book: Badass: Making Users Awesome (2015) Biped: A coop action adventure game Stair Climber: The best machine in the gym Audio and music credits: Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Peter Naur - Programming as Theory Building

What is programming? This week, we take a stab at this fundamental question with Peter Naur's paper "Programming as Theory Building". Felienne has read the paper (more than once), and Hanna is asking her questions about it. Apparently, programming is more than just solving problems by writing code and involves theory building! Listen in to hear more about what this theory building entails (spoiler alert: it has something to do with being able to explain and defend the solutions we come up with), some beautiful quotes from the paper, and Felienne's ideas of what Naur's argument means for current AI practices, LLM usage, and the computer science curriculum. Read the paper, do the homework, or skip the homework and listen to Hanna's homework attempt instead. Links: Naur's paper Felienne's blog post and Hanna’s homework Hanna's pomodoro timer (check it out before she gets too embarrassed and removes it) Audio and music credits: Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

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Everything you did not want to know about computer science! (Just teasing)

Our teaser episode for the Computer Science Off Course podcast! We bring you one paper or book each week to widen your view on what Computer Science is, and what it could be. Turing, Naur, Dreyfus, Laurel, and many more will bring some much-needed change in perspective for people who grew up on an information diet of only complex algorithms, programming, and math! Read along with us (Felienne and Hanna), do the homework and see that there is more between heaven and earth than computers and compilers. Mentions: If Books Could Kill Podcast The Academic Imperfectionist Podcast Deep Questions podcast Audio and music credits: Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain) Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded sounds Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com