The New Jim Code: Reimagining the Default Settings of Technology & Society
From everyday apps to complex algorithms, technology has the potential to hide, speed, and deepen discrimination, while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to racist practices of a previous era. In this talk, Ruha Benjamin presents the concept of the “New Jim Code” to explore a range of discriminatory designs that encode inequity: by […]
Women of Color and the Digital Labor of Repair
Women of color make our digital products. They assemble them in Asian factories and their cheap labor has made the tech industry’s innovation possible. This presentation focuses on their immaterial and knowledge work that contributes directly to the Internet’s usability. Women of color on social media and gaming platforms contribute unpaid labor to call out […]
Design and Technology Cloud Salon: Lena Chen and Maggie Oates
Lena Chen is a Chinese American writer and artist creating performances and socially engaged art in live and virtual contexts. Her practice has been informed by her experiences as one of the earliest documented survivors of revenge porn and her work in the sex industry as a stripper, cam performer, and fetish provider. She earned a […]
Tech Whistleblowing: Resources, Ramifications, & Resiliency
Tech sector whistleblowers have played an increasingly vital role in exposing racism and toxic workplace environments, algorithmic bias, and other platform harms. But the cost of coming forward with information can be tremendous – including psychological, legal, and employment ramifications. This webinar will explore what is needed to build and maintain safe and secure channels […]
Reconciling Social Media & Democracy
Description: While various solutions to problems at the intersection of social media and democracy are under consideration, from regulation to antitrust action, some experts are enthusiastic about the opportunity to create a new social media ecosystem that relies less on centrally managed platforms like Facebook and more on decentralized, interoperable services and components. In this […]
The Ethics of Data Curation: On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots
A comprehensive analysis of large language models and their impact by Emily Bender and Timnit Gebru, et al. The discussion of this important essay will be led by co-facilitators Kath Bode (Data History, ANU) and Matthew Stone (Computer Science, RU). Primary Reading: Emily Bender, Timnit Gebru, et al. “On the Dangers of Stochastic Parrots: Can Language Models Be Too […]
The Ethics of Data Curation: Data Journalism
A talk and discussion with Meredith Broussard, Research Director at the NYU Alliance for Public Interest Technology and author of the award-winning book, Artificial Unintelligence: How Computers Misunderstand the World (MIT, 2018). Critical AI’s main focal point for Fall 2021 is our Ethics of Data Curation workshop (to be held over Zoom), the product of a National Endowment for the Humanities […]