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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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