Utopia, Dystopia or… Ustopia? Reckoning with the Future of Technology & Society
From automated decision systems in healthcare, policing, education and more, technologies have the potential to deepen discrimination while appearing neutral and even benevolent when compared to harmful practices of a previous era. In this talk, Ruha Benjamin takes us into the world of biased bots, altruistic algorithms, and their many entanglements, and provides conceptual tools to decode tech predictions with historical and sociological insight. When it comes to AI, Ruha shifts our focus from the dystopian and utopian narratives we are sold, to a sober reckoning with the way these tools are already a part of our lives. Whereas dystopias are the stuff of nightmares, and utopias the stuff of dreams… ustopias are what we create together when we are wide awake.
February 22 at 5 pm in-person at Hope Room, Welcome Center and streaming live on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and Youtube.
About Dr. Ruha Benjamin
Ruha Benjamin is the Alexander Stewart 1886 Professor of African American Studies at Princeton University, founding director of the Ida B. Wells Just Data Lab, and author of the award-winning book Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code, among many other publications. Her work investigates the social dimensions of science, medicine, and technology with a focus on the relationship between innovation and inequity, health and justice, knowledge and power.
She is the recipient of numerous awards and honors, including the Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar Award and the President’s Award for Distinguished Teaching at Princeton. Her most recent book, Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, winner of the 2023 Stowe Prize, was born out of the twin plagues of COVID-19 and police violence and offers a practical and principled approach to transforming our communities and helping us build a more just and joyful world. Ruha’s forthcoming book Imagination: A Manifesto will be released in February 2024.
Co-sponsored by Harrington School of Communication and Media, Center for Computational Research, College of Arts and Sciences, Office of the Provost, College of Health Sciences, College of Pharmacy, College of Engineering, College of Business, and Department of Political Science.
Contact Us
Ranger Hall, Room 207
10 Ranger Road
Kingston, RI 02881
p: 401.874.2110
f: 401.874.2892
uriharringtonschool@etal.uri.edu