Abstract
Digital technology plays a major role in everyday life, affecting how people communicate, make decisions, and create art. Tools like AI image generators, music software, and mobile apps have changed the way people work and interact with the world around them. While these technologies can make tasks somewhat easier and create new opportunities, they also raise concerns over how much influence technology should have on human behavior and creative work. These ideas connect directly to my undergraduate thesis, which combines a technical project about encouraging behavioral change through engaging features and competition with an STS research paper about generative AI and creative labor.
My technical project, Hoos Trash, focuses on using technology to encourage cleaner habits around UVA Grounds. The mobile app was developed with my CS 4971 team and is designed to motivate students to throw away litter properly through interactive and competitive features. Some example features include: users logging trash pickups, seeing activity on a shared map, adding friends, competing on leaderboards, and raising a virtual pet that grows as they continue using the app. The project explores how simple game mechanics can make people more engaged in environmental responsibility and encourage small but meaningful behavior changes in everyday life.
My STS research paper looks at how generative AI tools, especially Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion, are affecting digital artists and creative industries. The paper examines how AI generated art changes ideas of authorship, creativity, and ownership while also impacting artists’ income and job opportunities. It also explores concerns about copyright and consent, since many AI systems are trained using artwork created by human artists. Overall, the research argues that generative AI is changing the relationship between technology and creative labor, forcing artists and industries to rethink the value and role of human creativity in digital spaces.
