Flutterby™! : Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI'

Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ @olivia@scholar.social linked to Zenodo: Against the Uncritical Adoption of 'AI' Technologies in Academia

Related to the rejection of expertise is the rejection of imagining a better future and the rejection of self-determination free from industry forces …. Not only AI enthusiasts, but even some scholars whose expertise concentrates on identifying and critically interrogating ideologies and sociotechnical relationships — such as historians and gender scholars — unfortunately fall prey to the teleological belief that AI is an unstoppable force. They embrace it because alternative responses seem too difficult, incompatible with industry developments, or non-existent. Instead of falling for this, we should “refuse [AI] adoption in schools and colleges, and reject the narrative of its inevitability.” …. Such rejection is possible and has historical precedent, to name just a few successful examples: Amsterdammers kicked out cars, rejecting that cycling through the Dutch capital should be deadly. Organised workers died for the eight-hour workday, the weekend and other workers’ rights, and governments banned chlorofluorocarbons from fridges to mitigate ozone depletion in the atmosphere. And we know that even the tide itself famously turns back. People can undo things; and we will …. Besides, there will be no future to embrace if we deskill our students and selves, and allow the technology industry’s immense contributions to climate crisis and environmental destruction to continue unimpeded ….

Citations ellipsized out for readability.