Acknowledgments Contributors Introduction Jonathan Leal and Carol Vernallis Part I: AI and Robotics 1. Could the AI of Our Dreams Ever Become Reality? Jay McClelland 2. Director Alex Garland Converses with Cybermedia's Scientists and Media Scholars Jonathan Leal and Carol Vernallis 3. (S)Ex Machina and the Cartesian Theater of the Absurd Simon D. Levy and Charles W. Lowney 4. Epiphany, Infinity and Transcendent AI Zachary Mason Part II: Big Data, Sentience, and the Universe 5. A MASSIVE Swirl of Pixels: Algorithms in Radiohead's 'Go to Sleep' Steen Ledet Christiansen 6. The Rise of the Machine: Body-Knowing, Neural Nets, and Emergent Freedom Charles W. Lowney 7. The Quantum Computer as Sci-Fi's Favorite Character Leonardo P. G. De Assis 8. Composer Ben Salisbury Discusses Scoring Science for Alex Garland Holly Rogers, John McGrath, Carol Vernallis, and Dale Chapman 9. Ex Machina and the Question of Consciousness Murray Shanahan Part III: The Neuroscience of Affect and Event Perception 10. 'A Solid Popularity Arc': Affective Economies in Black Mirror's 'Nosedive' Dale Chapman 11. Cognitive Boundaries, 'Nosedive' and Under the Skin: Interview with Jeffrey Zacks Carol Vernallis, Jonathan Leal, and Dale Chapman 12. Toward an AI Future of Comics Study and Creation: A Cognitive-Affective Approach Frederick Aldama and Laura Wagner Part IV: The Digital West 13. The Philosophy of Westworld Paul Skokowski 14. New Visions of the Old West: A.I., Self, and Other in Westworld Christopher Minz 15. Scoring Music for Westworld Then and Now: A Cognitive Perspective Annabel J. Cohen Part V: Interface, Desire, Collectivity 16. Director Terence Nance Discusses Random Acts of Flyness Carol Vernallis, Jonathan Leal, Holly Rogers, Liz Reich and the contributors of Cybermedia 17. The Gift of Black Sonics: Interface and Ontology in Sorry to Bother You and Random Acts of Flyness Liz Reich 18. Technology, Chaos, and the Nimble Subversion of Random Acts of Flyness Eric Lyon 19. Expecting the Twist: How Media Navigate the Intersections Among Different Sources of Prior Knowledge Noah Fram 20. Face Color Bevil Conway Part VI: Productive Neuropathologies 21. Digital Vitalism Marta Figlerowicz 22. Neuroplasticity: From Experience to Healing Sara Ferrando Colomer 23. Where is My Mind? Mr. Robot and the Digital Neuropolis Patricia Pisters 24. Dopamine Circuits: Wanting, Liking, Habits, and Goals. An Interview about Mr. Robot with Neuroscientist Talia Lerner Jonathan Leal, Carol Vernallis, and Patricia Pisters 25. The Taste of Cybermedia: An Interview with Hojoon Lee, The Lee Lab at Northwestern University Julia Peres Guimaraes, Selmin Kara, and Carol Vernallis Index