{"id":5837,"date":"2024-08-04T15:48:12","date_gmt":"2024-08-04T19:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5837"},"modified":"2024-08-04T16:28:24","modified_gmt":"2024-08-04T20:28:24","slug":"coverage-of-my-work-in-wral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5837","title":{"rendered":"Coverage of My Work in WRAL"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few months ago, I was approached by the School of Data Science, and the University Communications office, here at UNC Charlotte, to ask me to sit down for some coverage my Analytics Frontiers keynote, and my work on “AI,” broadly construed.<\/p>\n

Well, I just found out that the profile that local station WRAL wrote on me went live back in June.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

My conversations with the writer Shappelle Marshall both on the phone and email were really interesting, and I’m really quite pleased with the resulting piece, on the whole, especially our discussion of how bias (perspectives, values) of some kind will always make its way into all the technologies we make, so we should be trying to make sure they’re the perspectives and values we want<\/strong><\/em>, rather than the prejudices we might just so happen to have. Additionally, I appreciate that she included my differentiation between the practice of equity and the felt experience of fairness, because, well\u2026 *gestures broadly at everything*.<\/p>\n

With all that being said, I definitely would’ve liked if they could have included some of our longer discussion around the ideas in the passage that starts “\u2026AI and automation often create different types of work for human beings rather than eliminating work entirely.” What I was saying there is that “AI” companies keep promising a future where all “tedious work” is automated away, but actually creating a situation in which humans will actually have to do a lot more<\/strong><\/em> work (a la Ruth Schwartz Cowan<\/a>)\u2014 and as we know, this has already been shown to be happening<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What I am for sure not<\/strong><\/em> saying there is some kind of “don’t worry, we’ll all still have jobs! :D” capitalist boosterism. We’re adaptable, yes, but the need for these particular adaptations is down to capitalism doing a combination of making us fill in any extra leisure time we get from automation with more work, and forcing us to figure a new way to Jobity Job or, y’know, starve.<\/p>\n

But, ultimately, I think there’s still intimations of all of my positions, in this piece, along with everything else, even if they couldn’t include every single thing we discussed; there are only so many column inches in a day, after all. <\/span><\/span> Also, anyone who finds me for the first through this article and then goes on to directly engage any of my writing or presentations (fingers crossed on that) will very quickly be disabused of any notion that I’m like, “rah-rah capital.”<\/p>\n

Hopefully they’ll even learn and begin to understand Why<\/strong><\/em> I’m not. That’d be the real<\/strong><\/em> win.<\/p>\n

Anywho: Shappelle did a fantastic job, and if you get a chance to talk with her, I recommend it. Here’s the piece<\/a>, and I hope you enjoy it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A few months ago, I was approached by the School of Data Science, and the University Communications office, here at UNC Charlotte, to ask me to sit down for some coverage my Analytics Frontiers keynote, and my work on “AI,” broadly construed. Well, I just found out that the profile that local station WRAL wrote […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[967,1300,1520,73,1524,101,1525,1116,1527,1529,1131,1470,1530,1531,557,561,655,678,1528,1465,1526,1229,1230,1533,1522,1521,1523,1532],"class_list":["post-5837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-ai","tag-algorithmic-justice","tag-analytics-frontiers","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-automation","tag-bias","tag-data-science","tag-disability","tag-equity","tag-fairness","tag-gender","tag-justice","tag-marginalization","tag-marginalized-lived-experiences","tag-my-face","tag-my-work","tag-prejudice","tag-race","tag-responsibility","tag-ruth-schwartz-cowan","tag-school-of-data-science","tag-science-and-technology-studies","tag-science-technology-and-society","tag-shappelle-marshall","tag-unc-charlotte","tag-uncc","tag-universtity-of-north-carolina-at-charlotte","tag-wral"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5WByP-1w9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6406,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=6406","url_meta":{"origin":5837,"position":0},"title":"Reimagining “AI’s” Environmental and Sociotechnical Materialities","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"May 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"There's a new open-access book of collected essays called Reimagining AI for Environmental Justice and Creativity, and I happen to have an essay in it. The collection is made of contributions from participants in the October 2024 \"Reimagining AI for Environmental Justice and Creativity\" panels and workshops put on by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/img.youtube.com\/vi\/vgYOWd5o54g\/0.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6422,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=6422","url_meta":{"origin":5837,"position":1},"title":"Failures of “AI” Promise: Critical Thinking, Misinformation, Prosociality, & Trust","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"December 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"So, new research shows that a) LLM-type \"AI\" chatbots are extremely persuasive and able to get voters to shift their positions, and that b) the more effective they are at that, the less they hew to factual reality. Which: Yeah. A bunch of us told you this. Again: the Purpose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"Kurt Russell as MacReady from The Thing, a white man with shoulder-length hair and a long scruff beard, wearing grey and olive drab, looking exhausted and sitting next to a bottle of J&B Rare Blend Scotch whisky and a pint glass 1\/3 full of the same, saying into a microphone, \u201cNobody trusts anybody now. And we\u2019re all very tired.\u201d","src":"https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:hiz3i44kravwkf6hmzg42okb\/bafkreia5rzux45474gfqegihm6lu23lskhsk77r4aoesjlelvkax4gsbyi@jpeg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:hiz3i44kravwkf6hmzg42okb\/bafkreia5rzux45474gfqegihm6lu23lskhsk77r4aoesjlelvkax4gsbyi@jpeg 1x, https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:hiz3i44kravwkf6hmzg42okb\/bafkreia5rzux45474gfqegihm6lu23lskhsk77r4aoesjlelvkax4gsbyi@jpeg 1.5x, https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:hiz3i44kravwkf6hmzg42okb\/bafkreia5rzux45474gfqegihm6lu23lskhsk77r4aoesjlelvkax4gsbyi@jpeg 2x, https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:hiz3i44kravwkf6hmzg42okb\/bafkreia5rzux45474gfqegihm6lu23lskhsk77r4aoesjlelvkax4gsbyi@jpeg 3x, https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:hiz3i44kravwkf6hmzg42okb\/bafkreia5rzux45474gfqegihm6lu23lskhsk77r4aoesjlelvkax4gsbyi@jpeg 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5899,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5899","url_meta":{"origin":5837,"position":2},"title":"ChatGPT is Actively Marketing to Students During University Finals Season","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"April 4, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"It's really disheartening and honestly kind of telling that in spite of everything, ChatGPT is actively marketing itself to students in the run-up to college finals season. We've talked many (many) times before about the kinds of harm that can come from giving over too much epistemic and heuristic authority\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"Screenshot of ChatpGPT page:ChaptGPT Promo: 2 months free for students ChatGPT Plus is now free for college students through May Offer valid for students in the US and Canada [Buttons reading \"Claim offer\" and \"learn more\" An image of a pencil scrawling a scribbly and looping line] ChatGPT Plus is here to help you through finals","src":"https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:ybkylffhwhn2an2ic2lxh76k\/bafkreidh6mhffosfxhbgnxx6aybjycvgj3c2ygzto2xhzvsohdsv3g6evm@jpeg","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:ybkylffhwhn2an2ic2lxh76k\/bafkreidh6mhffosfxhbgnxx6aybjycvgj3c2ygzto2xhzvsohdsv3g6evm@jpeg 1x, https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:ybkylffhwhn2an2ic2lxh76k\/bafkreidh6mhffosfxhbgnxx6aybjycvgj3c2ygzto2xhzvsohdsv3g6evm@jpeg 1.5x, https:\/\/cdn.bsky.app\/img\/feed_fullsize\/plain\/did:plc:ybkylffhwhn2an2ic2lxh76k\/bafkreidh6mhffosfxhbgnxx6aybjycvgj3c2ygzto2xhzvsohdsv3g6evm@jpeg 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5281,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5281","url_meta":{"origin":5837,"position":3},"title":"The Human Futures and Intelligent Machines Summit at Virginia Tech","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"June 8, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend, Virginia Tech's Center for the Humanities is hosting The Human Futures and Intelligent Machines Summit, and there is a link for the video cast of the events. You'll need to Download and install Zoom, but it should be pretty straightforward, other than that. You'll find the full Schedule,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5865,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5865","url_meta":{"origin":5837,"position":4},"title":"Audio, Slides, and Transcript for my 2024 SEAC Keynote","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"December 30, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Back in October, I was the keynote speaker for the Society for Ethics Across the Curriculum's 25th annual conference. My talk was titled \u201cOn Truth, Values, Knowledge, and Democracy in the Age of Generative 'AI,'\u201d and it touched on a lot of things that I've been talking and writing about\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"A Future Worth Thinking About\"","block_context":{"text":"A Future Worth Thinking About","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=a-future-worth-thinking-about"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Black man with natural hair shaved on the sides & long in the center, grey square-frame glasses, wearing a silver grey suit jacket, a grey dress shirt with a red and black Paisley tie, and a black N95 medical mask stands on a stage behind a lectern and in front of a large screen showing a slide containing the words On Truth, Values, Knowledge,and Democracy in the Age of Generative \u201cAI\u201dDr. Damien Patrick Williams Assistant Professor of Philosophy Assistant Professor of Data Science University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and an image of the same man, unmasked, with a beard, wearing a silver-grey pinstriped waistcoat & a dark grey shirt w\/ a purple paisley tie in which bookshelves filled w\/ books & framed degrees are visible in the background","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/keynote-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/keynote-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/keynote-1024x768.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":5600,"url":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?p=5600","url_meta":{"origin":5837,"position":5},"title":"I\u2019m Not Afraid of AI Overlords\u2014 I\u2019m Afraid of Whoever’s Training Them To Think That Way","author":"Damien P. Williams","date":"October 8, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m Not Afraid of AI Overlords\u2014 I\u2019m Afraid of Whoever's Training Them To Think That Way by Damien P. Williams I want to let you in on a secret: According to Silicon Valley\u2019s AI's, I\u2019m not human. Well, maybe they think I\u2019m human, but they don\u2019t think I\u2019m me. Or,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"ai\"","block_context":{"text":"ai","link":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/?tag=ai"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/POI_FB_0201-1024x576.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/POI_FB_0201-1024x576.webp?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/POI_FB_0201-1024x576.webp?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5837"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5845,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5837\/revisions\/5845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/afutureworththinkingabout.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}