Media, Mind, and Black Mirror
Students generate data for a final project by interacting with a chatbot throughout the course.
Course Info:
- COMM 173A/273A: "Media, Mind, and Black Mirror"
- Spring 2025
- Instructor: Robby Ratan
Pedagogy:
This final project requires ongoing work every week of the course and involves extended interaction with a large language model (LLM), generative AI chatbot. Students reflect on their interactions every week and use the full quarter-long record of their interactions with the LLM as data for their final project, which applies media psychology research methods discussed in the course.
Final Project
Black Mirror depicts potential technological developments that will dramatically transform humanity. Your final project for this class will involve experimenting with one of these (now real!) technologies, an AI/LLM-based chat partner.
Specifically, you will customize and converse with your own personal AI chat partner (e.g., ChatGPT) 2-3 times a week, 10 minutes per conversation, and then complete surveys reflecting on your interactions. After a few weeks of this activity, you will write an analytical essay about your experience. You will present your main insights from the essay to the class in your final presentation, optionally working with a group of classmates.
Part 1
Customize your chat partner—likely ChatGPT (or similar; please get approval from the teaching team)—by completing this chat partner Customization Template and pasting the text into your chat partner interface. Throughout the assignment, feel free to update your customization preferences with additional instructions (the more specific, the better).
Part 2
Talk with your chat partner using the same thread every time (to ensure it remembers your interactions). You are encouraged to also interact with your chat partner via VOICE CHAT at least twice during this assignment (e.g., by using the ChatGPT App on your phone; Voice FAQ here).
Please try to have multiple interactions, at least 2-3 times a week, for roughly ten minutes each. You can talk about whatever you like with your chat partner, but you are also encouraged to use at least 2-3 questions from the three different templates we provide. At the end of each week (between Friday and Sunday), please complete a reflective survey about your interactions.
Part 3
At the end of the quarter you will write up an auto-observational study (600-1000 words) based on the data you’ve collected about your own chat partner experience. You will deliver a written report that will consist of the following sections: Section 1: Describe your chat partner. Section 2: Reflect on your survey responses — read them in detail. Section 3: Connect your observations to existing research publications.Section 4: Conclusion
Part 4
You will conclude this project by giving a two-minute presentation (one slide) summarizing your experience and your write-up. Key points to hit will be: a) How you customized your chat partner. b) The main insights from your reflections on your interacting with your chat partner from your analyses of your survey responses. c) How your observations relate to existing research publications. d) The main theoretical and practical implications.