The Weizenbaum Institute, Technische Universität Berlin, Freie Universität Berlin, and Deutsches Haus at NYU present "Towards a Techno-Feminist Refusal" a public keynote by Sarah Sharma (University Toronto). "Towards a Techno-Feminist Refusal" will introduce Sharma's latest research at the intersection of AI assistance and masculine exit imaginaries within the realm of "womb media." Drawing from her new book project, which advances a techno-feminist media theory of refusal, Sarah provides a fresh lens on the latest debates around Artificial Intelligence (AI) and feminist media theory.
The keynote is part of the symposium "Critical Stances towards AI“ on issues around the work and life of MIT computer scientist and AI critic Joseph Weizenbaum.
Please RSVP for in-person attendance here.
About the participant:
Sarah Sharma is Associate Professor of Media Theory at the ICCIT/Faculty of Information and Director of the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto. Her research and teaching focuses on the relationship between technology, time and labour with a specific focus on issues related to gender, race, and class. She is the author of In the Meantime: Temporality and Cultural Politics (Duke UP, 2014). Her edited volume (with Rianka Singh) Re-Understanding Media: Feminist Extensions of Marshall McLuhan (Duke UP 2022) highlights her time as director of the McLuhan Centre between 2017-2022. Sarah is currently working on a new book on the topic of gender, technology and escape tentatively titled Broken Machine Feminism.
About the "Critical Stances Towards AI" symposium:
Joseph Weizenbaum, the namesake of our institute, would have turned 100 this year. On this very occasion we are traveling to his Country of adoption to honor his memory by discussing themes with which he was deeply engaged and thus promote the transatlantic discourse on Weizenbaum and his work. The symposium is hosted by the Weizenbaum Institute, Freie Universität Berlin, Deutsches Haus at NYU and Technische Universität Berlin.
Over two days, researchers from the Weizenbaum Institute and from different North American Institutions intend to address questions concerning the role of humans in AI, the role algorithmic platforms play for information in digital societies as well as an analysis of hypergiants in the internet ecosystem. Together with the audience, we will debate the issue of AI development and usage from both social and environmental perspectives.
The symposium brings together alumni of the universities and non-university research institutions involved in the Weizenbaum Institute: Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin), Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (HU Berlin), Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK), Universität Potsdam (UP), as well as the Fraunhofer Institute for Open Communication Systems (FOKUS) and the Berlin Social Science Center (WZB).
Attendance:
While NYU has ended COVID-19 related restrictions and policies, we continue to remind and recommend to members of the NYU community that they stay up-to-date on their boosters and stay home if they feel sick. Masks are always welcome.
To RSVP for in-person attendance, please click here.