Your Name and Title:
Sarah Appedu, PhD student
Library, School, or Organization Name:
School of Information Studies, Syracuse University
Co-Presenter Name(s):
n/a
Area of the World from Which You Will Present:
New York, United States
Language in Which You Will Present:
English
Target Audience(s):
Library practitioners, especially with an information literacy role
Short Session Description (one line):
This session will introduce librarians to important conceptual advancements in the field of critical technology and information studies and review their practical import for various aspects of library practice.
Full Session Description (as long as you would like):
Librarians have and will continue to play an instrumental role in challenging and critiquing new technological “advancements” that make their way into the lives and practices within their organizations and communities. However, librarians may be underutilizing the important powers and skills they hold in evaluating complex information sources and systems in the face of new tools like those powered by artificial intelligence. While emphasizing skills related to source evaluation, identifying algorithmic bias, and critically examining the economic context of information creation are vital advancements in librarianship, particularly in the realm of information literacy, more must be done to move past the reactionary state librarians often find themselves in. Doing so can empower librarians as individuals and as a field at large to take an active role in reframing and resisting the capitalist, colonizing origins of the technology industry and the discourses in which they engage to disempower our communities. This session will introduce librarians to important conceptual advancements in the field of critical technology and information studies and review their practical import for various aspects of library practice.
It is important to note that AI itself is not the solitary evil villain of this story but just one iteration of a larger project of exploitation for the benefit of an elite few, or what Tacheva & Ramasubramanian (2023) refer to as AI Empire, which “is situated within the larger context of intersecting systems of social domination” (p. 5). AI is a timely and influential phenomenon, but to truly embrace a critical stance towards oppressive systems we must move past fixating on particular technological expressions and look more deeply at the roots of these expressions in oppressive knowledge-making, policy-creating, and economic systems.
Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session:
n/a
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