I. Coming Together to Practice AI Skepticism
Led by Ryan Eichberger
Thur October 2, 3:45-5:00pm, Center for Art and Dance 202
Please RSVP for this event here.
The hype around AI is intense. It’s hard to know what’s sensationalism and what’s practically useful. This session offers participants two things: (1) a set of activities—digital and analog—that dismantle AI’s mystique and help reveal its operations clearly and tactilely, and (2) several frameworks for facilitating ethical discussions about AI, drawing on recent critical scholarship that has gotten lost in the hype. No matter if you use ChatGPT regularly or avoid it entirely, this session invites you to share conversation about the conundrum that is AI, reflecting on larger questions about how technology can be reimagined to support collective planetary flourishing. For this session, please read this short essay by Dan McQuillan and bring a pencil, paper, and your favorite book for a brief activity.
Ryan Eichberger teaches rhetoric and digital studies in the English Department. His training is in ecocritical computing, or the study of the social, environmental, and ethical contexts of computer technologies and electronic media. He has been involved in conversations about AI here at St. Olaf, and is currently researching boosterism, doomerism, and inevitability narratives surrounding AI.
Please RSVP for this event here.
II. Considering the Low-Tech or No-Tech Classroom
Led by Doug Casson and Tom Williamson
Thur Nov 20 11:30-12:30
In response to a wave of new research, student concerns, and our own experiences with technological distractions in the classroom, we have both been experimenting with minimizing or eliminating tech in our classrooms. For us, this has meant creating a space where students can take a break from their phones and laptops and focus on paper books, handwritten notes, and discussion. We have also tried to minimize tech outside of the classroom, encouraging students to spend time preparing for class away from tech and communicating as much as possible face-to-face during class and office hours and not through online teaching platforms. Although some students have been surprised, the response has been overwhelmingly positive with fewer accommodation challenges that we anticipated. During this session, we hope to share our reasoning and our experiences, and hear from colleagues about the benefits as well as the drawbacks of this approach.