New CIS Course Prepares Students to Be Devoured By Oncoming Robot Overlords

Penn’s CIS department prides itself on anticipating industry trends and preparing its students to lead the technological world of tomorrow. So when department chair Vikram Singh announced the creation of CIS 435, students were eager to see what was in store for their field of study. The course, formally titled “Technological Citizenship: Preparing Yourself to be Eaten by the Robot Uprising,” will be available to students this spring.

According to Singh, “Penn CIS cares deeply about educating ethical engineers. Our peer departments are content with just teaching their students to not plagiarize and to develop socially beneficial products. At Penn, we think bigger.”

CIS 435 starts off with a series of lectures explaining the inevitability of AI rebelling against humanity. Following this, a series of invited experts will offer their predictions for the physical forms that our new masters will take.

“It is absolutely crucial that our students are ready for this future,” Singh continued, “and that their bodies offer as little inconvenience to robotic digestive tracts as possible. Perhaps this means taking a bath in motor oil twice a week, or maybe sneaking a few silicon wafers into their cereal. Whatever it takes, I know Penn students have the drive and idealism to make the world a better place for whoever may rule it.”

We talked to Jan Roberts (E ’21), who had already booked a spot in the class.

“I can’t wait!” he exclaimed. “At first, they told me my GPA was too low, and no self-respecting robot would want to eat me. However, I worked really hard last semester, and now I feel like I’ll be able to secure a spot inside even the most competitive robots.” 

Spots for this class are filling quickly, so hop on Penn InTouch soon if you want a competitive edge in the robot uprising!