science fiction inspiration

Optional Bonus Assignment This assignment is an optional, bonus assignment. Your grade on this assignment can be used to replace your lowest homework grade or to excuse one absence. Due: before 11:59pm, Wednesday, April 25th, via Blackboard May be turned in early. After the due date, Blackboard will be closed and no points will be awarded for completion of this assignment. Objective: Engineers often draw inspiration from science fiction. When Dr. Barasch visited the class and discussed the CSE department’s course in Artificial Intelligence, she occasionally referenced a (in)famous sci-fi character:

It seemed that very few students recognized this character, which is unfortunate, because it has inspired a generation of computer scientists with what (not) to do with AI. This left me curious with regards to what science fiction the present generation of students looks to for inspiration. So for this assignment: write a brief essay about a source of science fiction you’ve drawn inspiration from, or helped encourage you to be an engineer. This may be a movie, TV show, book, comic book, or other type of media. Write one paragraph describing what the movie/show/et cetera is about. This doesn’t need to be an exhaustive plot analysis, but at least give me an idea of what the body of work is about. No spoilers please: I’m still furious someone told me Han died before I’d seen the movie. Write another paragraph telling me why this body of work interests you. Is there technology in the body of work you’d like to emulate with what you learn in CSE?

Turn In: Turn this into a PDF document, and upload it into Blackboard in the form of bonus.netid.pdf. Include a proper essay header with your name, student ID number, date, and the section of 1105 you’re enrolled in. Failure to follow the above instructions will net a deduction of 25 points.