CCN202 Automating the Digital World
To view more information for this unit, select Unit Outline from the list below. Please note the teaching period for which the Unit Outline is relevant.
| Unit code: | CCN202 |
|---|---|
| Prerequisite(s): | ((CCN112 or CCQ112) OR ((CCN103 or CCQ103) and (CCN105 or CCQ105))) |
| Equivalent(s): | CCQ202 |
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Timetable | Details in HiQ, if available |
| Availabilities |
|
Unit Outline: Flexible Period - 04A 2027, Kelvin Grove, Internal (Start Date: 22 Feb 2027)
| Unit code: | CCN202 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | ((CCN112 or CCQ112) OR ((CCN103 or CCQ103) and (CCN105 or CCQ105))) |
| Equivalent: | CCQ202 |
| Coordinator: | Patrik Wikstrom | patrik.wikstrom@qut.edu.au |
Overview
This unit examines what artificial intelligence is doing to culture and to society: to what we make, what we see, what we believe, what we do for a living, and what we take to be a someone rather than a something. The unit begins with the machine: we discuss where the idea of an intelligent machine came from, and what contemporary systems actually do when they produce language, images and decisions. The unit then turns inward, to questions that a communication graduate cannot avoid. Do these machines understand anything, and does it matter to how we should treat them? What happens to human relationships when a machine is what people talk to at two in the morning? In the third movement, the unit turns outward, to culture and to power. We ask what automated creation and curation are doing to cultural production and taste, how platforms and states are attempting to govern the result.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Critique the social and cultural implications of artificial intelligence and automation for communication, the media industries, and the wider society.
- Evaluate competing accounts of what contemporary AI systems are and do, including claims about their understanding, agency and moral status, and assess the evidence offered for each.
- Design and conduct a systematic empirical study of an automated system, and report findings that are proportionate to the evidence collected.
- Analyse how automated systems are governed by platforms and by states across jurisdictions, and assess the implications for communication practice.
Content
This unit will explore the following topics:
- Automation, algorithmic culture and the machines we imagined first
- How contemporary AI systems work
- Machine minds
- Algorithmic culture
- Governing and contesting automation
- Artificial intimacy
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning activities include lectures and tutorials supported by additional online activities and materials. This approach requires students to complete online activities independently, prior to attending classes. In the internal offerings, classes are conducted face-to-face in collaborative learning spaces; in the online offerings, classes and learning activities are conducted online. Indicative learning experiences in this unit include:
participating in class/online tutorials
attending lectures
engaging with online learning materials
reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two assessment items plus an invigilated exam:
Auditing automated systems - You conduct a systematic comparative audit of how conversational AI systems present themselves as minds, agents and companions using a method inspired by AI auditing practice.
Automated content creation and curation - You evaluate how AI-driven content creation and curation mechanisms (e.g., video recommendations and trending content algorithms) influence user engagement, content diversity, and creator practices.
Final examination: This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Auditing automated systems
You will conduct a systematic comparative audit of how conversational AI systems generate content, and how they present themselves as minds, agents and companions. You will select and justify two to four systems and two to four dimensions, design a replicable protocol, code the responses against a scheme of their own construction, and report findings proportionate to the evidence. The method is drawn from AI auditing practice. Assessment weighs protocol design and analytical reasoning over findings, and the requirement to state what the study cannot establish is marked.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Automated content creation and curation
Each of you will receive an individual dataset and uses it to test specific claims drawn from a platform's own curation and moderation policy documents. You will define and justify metrics, conduct and visualise the analysis using a relevant tool of their choice, and interpret the findings against the unit's literature on platform governance.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Final examination
This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited in this assessment.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online Tier 1 General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available on the Storing your files page.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO3, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation, Final examination - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: Final examination - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: Auditing automated systems - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO4, Automated content creation and curation
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO3, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO4, Automated content creation and curation
Unit Outline: Flexible Period - 04A 2027, Online (Start Date: 22 Feb 2027)
| Unit code: | CCN202 |
|---|---|
| Credit points: | 12 |
| Pre-requisite: | ((CCN112 or CCQ112) OR ((CCN103 or CCQ103) and (CCN105 or CCQ105))) |
| Equivalent: | CCQ202 |
Overview
This unit examines what artificial intelligence is doing to culture and to society: to what we make, what we see, what we believe, what we do for a living, and what we take to be a someone rather than a something. The unit begins with the machine: we discuss where the idea of an intelligent machine came from, and what contemporary systems actually do when they produce language, images and decisions. The unit then turns inward, to questions that a communication graduate cannot avoid. Do these machines understand anything, and does it matter to how we should treat them? What happens to human relationships when a machine is what people talk to at two in the morning? In the third movement, the unit turns outward, to culture and to power. We ask what automated creation and curation are doing to cultural production and taste, how platforms and states are attempting to govern the result.
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this unit you will be able to:
- Critique the social and cultural implications of artificial intelligence and automation for communication, the media industries, and the wider society.
- Evaluate competing accounts of what contemporary AI systems are and do, including claims about their understanding, agency and moral status, and assess the evidence offered for each.
- Design and conduct a systematic empirical study of an automated system, and report findings that are proportionate to the evidence collected.
- Analyse how automated systems are governed by platforms and by states across jurisdictions, and assess the implications for communication practice.
Content
This unit will explore the following topics:
- Automation, algorithmic culture and the machines we imagined first
- How contemporary AI systems work
- Machine minds
- Algorithmic culture
- Governing and contesting automation
- Artificial intimacy
Learning Approaches
This unit is taught via a blended approach that combines elements of online delivery and face-to-face.
Learning activities include lectures and tutorials supported by additional online activities and materials. This approach requires students to complete online activities independently, prior to attending classes. In the internal offerings, classes are conducted face-to-face in collaborative learning spaces; in the online offerings, classes and learning activities are conducted online. Indicative learning experiences in this unit include:
participating in class/online tutorials
attending lectures
engaging with online learning materials
reading book chapters, scholarly and industry articles
Feedback on Learning and Assessment
You will receive feedback on your learning in a variety of ways, including:
- Informal formative feedback in tutorials,
- Self-assessment tools,
- Peer feedback,
- Formal written or recorded feedback on both formative and summative assessment tasks in addition to the grade on the Criterion Reference Assessment sheet.
Assessment
Overview
In this unit, you will be required to complete two assessment items plus an invigilated exam:
Auditing automated systems - You conduct a systematic comparative audit of how conversational AI systems present themselves as minds, agents and companions using a method inspired by AI auditing practice.
Automated content creation and curation - You evaluate how AI-driven content creation and curation mechanisms (e.g., video recommendations and trending content algorithms) influence user engagement, content diversity, and creator practices.
Final examination: This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
Unit Grading Scheme
7- point scale
Assessment Tasks
Assessment: Auditing automated systems
You will conduct a systematic comparative audit of how conversational AI systems generate content, and how they present themselves as minds, agents and companions. You will select and justify two to four systems and two to four dimensions, design a replicable protocol, code the responses against a scheme of their own construction, and report findings proportionate to the evidence. The method is drawn from AI auditing practice. Assessment weighs protocol design and analytical reasoning over findings, and the requirement to state what the study cannot establish is marked.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Automated content creation and curation
Each of you will receive an individual dataset and uses it to test specific claims drawn from a platform's own curation and moderation policy documents. You will define and justify metrics, conduct and visualise the analysis using a relevant tool of their choice, and interpret the findings against the unit's literature on platform governance.
This assignment is eligible for the 48-hour late submission period and assignment extensions.
The ethical and responsible use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is authorised in this assessment. See the relevant assessment details in Canvas for specific guidelines.
Assessment: Final examination
This examination tests two things: whether you know the core concepts of this unit well enough to use them, and whether you can exercise the judgement the unit teaches without the tools to hand. No devices, no internet.
The use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) tools is prohibited in this assessment.
Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is a commitment to undertaking academic work and assessment in a manner that is ethical, fair, honest, respectful and accountable.
The Academic Integrity Policy sets out the range of conduct that can be a failure to maintain the standards of academic integrity. This includes, cheating in exams, plagiarism, self-plagiarism, collusion and contract cheating. It also includes providing fraudulent or altered documentation in support of an academic concession application, for example an assignment extension or a deferred exam.
You are encouraged to make use of QUT’s learning support services, resources and tools to assure the academic integrity of your assessment. This includes the use of text matching software that may be available to assist with self-assessing your academic integrity as part of the assessment submission process.
Breaching QUT’s Academic Integrity Policy or engaging in conduct that may defeat or compromise the purpose of assessment can lead to a finding of student misconduct (Code of Conduct – Student) and result in the imposition of penalties under the Management of Student Misconduct Policy, ranging from a grade reduction to exclusion from QUT.
Risk Assessment Statement
All on-campus students are required to complete the online Tier 1 General Health and Safety Induction for access to campus buildings and facilities.
You are advised to back-up your digital files on a regular basis to ensure work is not lost if there is a hardware failure. Information about the free file storage provided by QUT for students is available on the Storing your files page.
There are no out of the ordinary risks associated with this unit.
Course Learning Outcomes
This unit is designed to support your development of the following course/study area learning outcomes.KC87 Graduate Diploma in Digital Communication
- Critique scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO3, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation, Final examination - Independently propose data-driven solutions to contemporary communication issues
Relates to: Final examination - Analyse data using industry standard tools and platforms leveraging advanced capabilities
Relates to: Auditing automated systems - Analyse critical issues in media and communication industries with consideration for diversity.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation, Final examination - Tailor culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO4, Automated content creation and curation
KC88 Master of Digital Communication
- Critique and engage in scholarly research in specialised and contemporary digital communication areas.
Relates to: ULO3, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation - Evaluate critical issues in media and communication industries.
Relates to: ULO1, ULO2, Auditing automated systems, Automated content creation and curation - Tailor and implement culturally appropriate communication strategies and content for a variety of audiences and formats.
Relates to: ULO4, Automated content creation and curation