AI what's up! Hype, doom, or something else?

While there is a lot of talk about how AI could a) solve all our problems or b) wipe us out completely, there is surprisingly little information about where these ideologies come from. When we trace back these narratives, we quickly find problematic assumptions rooted in eugenics, science fiction tropes, white saviorism, colonialism, and male-dominated tech culture.

In this talk, I'll provide historical and philosophical context for AI doom and salvation narratives. We will look at concepts like "(super)intelligence" and "existential risk" and examine the hidden baggage they carry. We'll also explore how these framings serve particular power structures and whose voices are centered or erased. We tackle what makes these narratives so compelling, and, finally, look at alternative frameworks to think about AI that don't reproduce colonial or eugenic logic.

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