What do you hope to get from the programme?
I started my Arts undergraduate at the University of Cape Town and fell for the critical, creative inquiry. I took a coding course, and I was fascinated by how tech problems always seemed to have a clearer, structured solution. In the marriage of the two, I always felt there were sensible, empathetic, well-thought out decisions. Everything I learnt and found interesting seemed to lead me to the intersection between creativity, technology, and people.
When I first came across the MSc in AI and Data Ethics at Edinburgh University, it felt like an instant connection. When I found out an ancestor was the Dean of Edinburgh, and wrote a series of books titled ‘The Ethics of Aristotle’, it felt fated. In a way, the first thing I had hoped to get from the programme started the day I arrived at Edinburgh, in being able to walk the streets of those ancestors much wiser than me. The rest I hope for can (forseeably) be summarised into the pillars of my interests: creativity, technology, and people.
Creatively, I hope to become better at problem-solving and design thinking. To broaden my perspectives and challenge my preconceptions about what the ‘right’ solution looks like, and strike the balance between practicality and empathy. I hope to listen more closely and think more like the audience of solutions, to design with their needs first. In the AI era, I hopeto foreground thinking about exceptions as well as averages, and what the ramifications of decisions will be.
Tech-wise, I really want to get better at coding and data architecture – I say that because even though I know I can do it and enjoy it, I like to be good at things the first time I try them. I hope to understand more deeply what the limitations and affordances of technology are, and how to use those functions creatively in bridging gaps and making connections. I hope to consider digital sociology, and how the world will change as a result of constant and exponential advances. I hope to think of tech solutions that are creative, and to lear more coding that is creative.
People-wise, I hope to (and have!) meet international people, with different lives and challenges and strengths than me, who give me a glimpse into what their perfect world looks like. I hope to speak to more lecturers who open my eyes to new theories and avenues for research, that I hope to get better at considering how to connect people’s needs, and which technologies and systems serve them in a way that suits them best. I hope to understand Scottish people better, and draw out the mystery of why they live in such cold weather 😉
I hope to have fun and work hard, and look back on this blogpost thinking ‘little did she know how fantastic the next couple of months were going to be’.
