Computer Science Off Course

Joseph Weizenbaum - Computer Power and Human Reason

Tue, 11 Aug 2026 05:32:16 GMT

Are there things computers and AI should never do, even if they could? In this week’s episode, we discuss this question and take a look at Joseph Weizenbaum’s book “Computer Power and Human Reason” (1976). We learn about his famous chatbot ELIZA, the difference between deciding and choosing, and what Weizenbaum envisioned for Computer Science education. We notice connections to other thinkers we have discussed in earlier episodes, and before we know it, it feels like we are standing behind a crime scene evidence board, with red strings connecting the thoughts by Peter Naur, Gilbert Ryle, and Joseph Weizenbaum! Felienne picks another tattoo-worthy quote (spoiler: it’s about speaking to each other in silence!). In the end, Hanna pours her heart out to ELIZA and complains about Claude, Gemini, and ChatGPT.

Mentions:

Weizenbaum, J. (1976). Computer power and human reason: From judgment to calculation. W. H. Freeman & Company.
The ‘Pepe Silvia’ meme (from “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” ): https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/pepe-silvia
Emily M. Bender (Recorded March 25, 2025): The Great Chatbot Debate: Do LLMs Really Understand? [Video], see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtIQVaSS5Pg
Peter Naur (1928 – 2016), Danish computer science pioneer, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Naur, discussed in S01E01 of our podcast: https://rss.com/podcasts/computer-science-off-course/2968986/
Gilbert Ryle (1900 – 1976), British philosopher, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilbert_Ryle
For the references to scientific articles, see: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e06-homework/

Links:

Felienne’s blog post: https://www.felienne.nl/csoc-s01e06/
Hanna’s homework: https://homework.unedited.me/posts/csoc-s01e06-homework/

Audio and music credits:

Song: “Curiosity Rag” (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

Lucy Suchman - Plans and Situated Actions

Tue, 04 Aug 2026 05:57:29 GMT

When did you last use a copy machine, and how did you do it? Did you follow a predetermined plan, use a manual, or did you figure out what to do along the way? In this episode, we discuss how people interact with machines and tackle the book "Plans and Situated Actions" (1987) by ethnographer Lucy Suchman. This book, in part, describes a famous study in which Suchman put cameras in a room with a new photocopier and observed people (smart computer people!) struggle with the interface. We discuss the impact of her work and relate it to today's AI discourse. As every week, Felienne brings great quotes, such as Suchman pointing out the "increasingly linguistic, rather than mechanistic" communication that people have with machines! Hanna is excited that we get to talk about one of the pioneers of the human-computer interaction research field and, in her homework, provides suggestions for how programmers can make (copy) machines more user-friendly.

Mentions:

Suchman, L. A. (1987). Plans and situated actions: The problem of human-machine communication. Cambridge University Press.
Dingemanse, M., Torreira, F., & Enfield, N. J. (2013). Is “Huh?” a universal word? Conversational infrastructure and the convergent evolution of linguistic items. PloS one, 8(11), e78273.
Video of people using a photocopy machine by Austin Henderson and Lucy Suchman (1983)
The cognitive walkthrough

Links:

Audio and music credits:

Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

Hubert Dreyfus - What Computers Can't Do

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 05:22:28 GMT

Is there something you wish computers could do but somehow, despite all the hype around AI, they still can't do it? In this episode, we discuss Hubert Dreyfus' book "What Computers Can't Do" (1972) and its updated revision, "What Computers Still Can't Do" (1992), both from historical and current AI perspectives. Our topics range from the limits of formalizing knowledge and fringe consciousness to dancing with strangers and picking a gift for a friend. Beyond Dreyfus, we also touch on ideas from Plato, Ludwig Wittgenstein, John Searle, Joseph Weizenbaum, and Pierre Bourdieu. Felienne, like always, brings her favorite quotes. One is so beautiful, she would like to get it tattooed on her back. Hanna does the homework, and thinks of things computers should never do, even if they could.

Mentions:

Dreyfus, H. L. (1972). What computers can’t do: A critique of artificial reason Harper & Row.
Dreyfus, H. L. (1992). What computers still can't do: A critique of artificial reason. MIT Press.
Häagen-Bot ice cream eating machine comic by Doug Savage

Links:

Audio and music credits:

Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

Alan Turing - Computing Machinery and Intelligence

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:00:00 GMT

Has this text been written by an AI or by us, Felienne and Hanna? It's the latter! Why does this matter? This week, we discuss what it means when you can no longer tell human and machine output apart. For the first time, we discuss a paper we are not exactly ecstatic about. Namely, Alan Turing's 1950 paper, "Computing Machinery and Intelligence," which introduced the famous Turing Test. Felienne has studied the paper in detail and points out so many problematic things about it. Hanna has finally done the assigned homework, but then goes off course again by turning it into a story about sex, robots, and weird party games.

Mentions:

Alan Turing's article: Computing Machinery and Intelligence (1950)

Links:

Audio and music credits:

Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded page-turning sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

Brenda Laurel - Computers as Theatre

Tue, 14 Jul 2026 14:07:43 GMT

Are you playing a role when using a computer? We certainly are! In this episode, we connect the worlds of theatre and computers. We discuss Brenda Laurel's book "Computers as Theatre” (1991). Per usual, Felienne has read the book. And as it turns out, it gave her a new way to look at the world. Human-computer interfaces provide a stage for performances! Just like last week, Hanna is asking questions and is having trouble keeping her homework short. There is just so much to say about human-computer interaction, procrastination, slaying metaphorical dragons and the never-ending flow of emails.

Links:

Felienne's blog post and Hanna’s homework

Mentions:

Brenda Laurel’s book: Computers as Theatre (1991)
Kathy Sierra’s book: Badass: Making Users Awesome (2015)
Biped: A coop action adventure game
Stair Climber: The best machine in the gym

Audio and music credits:

Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

Peter Naur - Programming as Theory Building

Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:19:33 GMT

What is programming? This week, we take a stab at this fundamental question with Peter Naur's paper "Programming as Theory Building". Felienne has read the paper (more than once), and Hanna is asking her questions about it. Apparently, programming is more than just solving problems by writing code and involves theory building! Listen in to hear more about what this theory building entails (spoiler alert: it has something to do with being able to explain and defend the solutions we come up with), some beautiful quotes from the paper, and Felienne's ideas of what Naur's argument means for current AI practices, LLM usage, and the computer science curriculum. Read the paper, do the homework, or skip the homework and listen to Hanna's homework attempt instead.

Links:

Naur's paper
Felienne's blog post and Hanna’s homework
Hanna's pomodoro timer (check it out before she gets too embarrassed and removes it)

Audio and music credits:

Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com

Everything you did not want to know about computer science! (Just teasing)

Wed, 01 Jul 2026 12:20:34 GMT

Our teaser episode for the Computer Science Off Course podcast! We bring you one paper or book each week to widen your view on what Computer Science is, and what it could be.

Turing, Naur, Dreyfus, Laurel, and many more will bring some much-needed change in perspective for people who grew up on an information diet of only complex algorithms, programming, and math!

Read along with us (Felienne and Hanna), do the homework and see that there is more between heaven and earth than computers and compilers.

Mentions:

Audio and music credits:

Song: "Curiosity Rag" (1910) by James E.C. Kelly (public domain)
Sound effects and background sounds: Public domain/CC0 sounds from Freesound.org and self-recorded sounds
Audio editing: Hanna at Earpolish.com