“Are We in An Abusive Relationship with Corporate A.I. Products?” set for April 27

An interactive teach-in on "Are We in An Abusive Relationship with Corporate A.I. Products?" will take place on Monday, April 27, in Miller Hall 152 from 4-5 p.m.

All WWU faculty, staff and students are welcome.

This event is organized by the Critical A.I. Literacies Collective (CALC), a collective of faculty and staff from Energy Studies, English, Environmental Studies, Fairhaven College, Geology, History, ITS, Mathematics, Psychology, SMATE and Western Libraries. The collective aims to teach and learn about the wide-ranging global impacts of corporate "A.I." products from critical, interdisciplinary perspectives.

Speakers in the April 27 event include Dr. Christine Johnston, Associate Professor of History, and Dr. Brianna Delker, Associate Professor of Psychology. They will address the broad social impacts of AI, including the following questions:

• To what extent do corporate-engineered chatbots exploit vulnerable users and abuse trust within ongoing chat interactions, and what are the impacts?
• What information do human consumers need to actually make informed choices about ongoing relationships with AI chatbots?
• How does AI adoption systemically impact many important areas of life, including employment, housing, social services, policing and immigration?

At the same time, the most important goal of the event is to create a forum for participants to speak and listen to one another. Dr. Amites Sarkar (Mathematics) will moderate a group discussion following the opening presentations, and the event will end with a tea and cookies reception from 5-5:30 p.m. to give participants the chance to connect with each other.