Topics of Interest

 There are two topics that I am interested in exploring:

1. How the emergence of generative AI has impacted professional writers and the industries they work in

2. The history of travel writing as it relates to the preservation and advancement of cultures, languages, people, and history

Generative AI is a hot topic at the moment. Everyone is interested to see how large language models and related technology advance and what implications these implications said advancements have on professional sectors.

Travel writing, including travel literature written in various styles, has existed from as early as the first century CE. It has played a critical role in the preservation of important information throughout history.

Having already conducted light preliminary research on both topics, I've been pleased to find interesting perspectives and research relating to each. I look forward to identifying which topic I want to pursue and narrowing my focus within the selected topic.

Comments

  1. Samantha AikenAugust 25, 2023 at 8:55 AM

    Hi Dylan!

    I think that generative AI is a fascinating topic of study and research. I think it's really important now and in the future to research and understand what generative AI is doing to help and/or what it's doing to harm professional writers and industries. I hadn't ever used generative AI until this semester and I have to say that I have mixed feelings about it. I do see that it's here to stay therefore we need to figure out the best ways to incorporate it into professional lives.

    I like your other topic of interest as well. A couple semesters ago I did some research into hip hop and how combining two different hip hop cultures together actually brought about preservation and advancement of the two cultures in terms of creating less Eurocentric hegemony and inviting both history's to make something different together.

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  2. Jay LindsayAugust 26, 2023 at 2:49 PM

    Honestly, despite being a Geographer, I think you should focus more on the Generative AI topic with regards to how it is impacting the creative arts, such as: novelists, screenwriters, and artists. It is a hotter topic, honestly.

    Were you to consider pursuing it as a full research paper rather than just a literature review, there are major topics you break down into chapters for something like a thesis project. The primary research question would be pretty broad but also direct: Does the development of Generative AI put careers in creative arts (novels writing, script writing, and traditional/digital art) at risk of being automated out of existence? This can then be further narrowed down to include sub-questions, such as:

    1. What are the expected timelines for developing Generative AI into being indistinguishable from humans (this could allow you to pull research papers on the Turing Test)?
    2. What are the projected impacts to incomes/salaries and job demand in the creative arts as Generative AI advances (allowing you to pull from economic journals, trade journals, and news media)?
    3. What are the ethics behind training Generative AI with existing art and literature without recompense to the original creators (allowing you to draw research from sociology, computer science, and legal journals and academic research).

    With the main question defined, and its more manageable and narrow supporting questions defined (and there are a lot you could come up with beyond my suggestions), you could do a massive literature review to get a general sense of the topic...and also structure the beginnings of a thesis project's chapter outline.

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