Unit 1: Popular Science Writing
| Role | Audience | Purpose | Genre | Rhetorical Situation |
| Serious AI Journalist | Readers of a major AI publication (Wired, Ars Technica, etc.) | To ethically and honestly report on why a particular aspect of AI is so popular or compelling using a recent paper or scientific study in a format that is palatable to general/non-expert audiences. | Popular Science/I Blog | You are asked to write an article for a major tech publication that examines and explains a recent user or scientific study to a particular audience. |
“Science says the first word on everything, and the last word on nothing.” ~ Postcritum de Ma Vie, Victor Hugo
Popular science writing bridges the gap between scientific literature and political and cultural discourse. Designed to capture accuracy of science by investigating the methods, results, and implications of recent scientific developments. The goal of popular science writing is to make science more accessible to an audience outside its limited audience, but its purpose is to persuade readers of the validity (or lack of validity) of scientific observation. Popular science literature can be written by non-scientists, though these writers should ideally have expert knowledge of the field, topic, or discourse upon which they write as well as a basic understanding of the field’s research methods in order to dispense scientific knowledge ethically.
For this unit, you will create your own popular science/AI blog in the style of:
https://www.wired.com/story/how-chatgpt-works-large-language-model/
We’ll break the work into more manageable assignments to assist you in the process of creating an interesting and affecting piece of popular science writing.
Feeder 1: Topic Selection and Resources
DUE: Sunday September 10th by 11:59pm to course website
Length: Citation of 2-3 sources and ~500 words
Manuscript preparation: MLA format
First, decide what topic you want, make sure it is an appropriate topic for your blog. Write a short paragraph or two on your topic. What aspect of AI will you be talking about? Why that aspect? What do you think makes its special? What research will you be using?
Then, prepare a list of 2-3 sources that you will use for your Unit Project. Your sources should mainly come from scientific journals, although you may include an article or chapter from 1-2 books. Do not use Internet websites unless they are particularly credible, official, or important sources of information on your topic (i.e., official government websites, or vetted non-profit organizations). Consider these questions: What is the main claim or finding of the article? Why will this source be useful for your blog? How helpful is the article to your research? How effective is it as a source?
Feeder 2: Science Summary and Evaluation article
DUE: Friday, September 15th by 11:59pm to course website
Length: ~1000 words
Manuscript preparation: MLA format
Prepare a summary of your chosen research articles, avoiding jargon, quotation while emphasizing paraphrase.
Now that you’ve warmed up your analytical skills to discover what scientific literature can be used for your AI blog, you are ready for the next task: tackling science writing its purest form, interacting with primary source research. The object of this feeder assignment is to master the succinct summary and evaluation. You will be building off of your Feeder 1 assignment to begin to develop your argument through use of your sources.
Unit 1 Final Project: Popular Science Blog
Due: Sunday, October 1st by 11:59pm to course website
Length: 1500-2000 words
Additionally, you should have at least three images/video/visualization and use headings, color, and font that best serves your blog.
Manuscript preparation: MLA format
For this final project you will be creating your own science article and posting it to our class blog in the style of popular AI blogs—making the article accessible and interesting to a broad general audience. Writing popular work requires two basic things:
1.) Cutting through the scientific rhetoric deployed in professional science writing by using language of appropriate formality (informal, popular). This may include eliminating or limiting jargon or adequately defining any jargon-y language you use. In other words, you’re making something that may seem complicated simple and easy to understand.
2.) Making the scientific findings relevant and interesting to your topic. This second part requires more finesse and creativity. Here is where you as a writer and thinker will shine. What connections can you make between the scientific research you’re relaying and your selected topic? What connections can you make between the scientific research and AI in general? How might this affect someone’s experience? How might this effect the way they view the world around them?