Feb 5, 2026

In class, we explored lossy representations through the Pictionary Telephone activity and discussed how institutions decide what information is preserved or erased. In the next reading, we revisit Plato’s Allegory of the Cave in the context of AI systems.

Due on this date

• Type: Reflection
• Reading: The problem of digital shadows in Plato’s cave
• Link: Submit here
• Background: Plato’s Allegory of the Cave

Reflection Questions

• The reading argues that AI systems can function like modern “cave walls.” What does an AI system make visible, and what does it make difficult or impossible to see?
• Plato worried about illusion, but also about control over representations. In modern AI systems, who gets to decide what counts as meaningful data. Who is affected by those decisions?
• The reading challenges the idea that representational systems are neutral. Can you identify one assumption that an AI system must make in order to function? What that assumption leaves out?