As a critical technologist,
I am interested in how the technology I build interacts with society. I know that technologists already come to their practice with some values and ethics, whether they know it or not. So I am developing and critiquing my own values and ethics, and I am bringing my fellow practitioners along with me - by hosting book clubs, teaching seminar courses, and speaking on panels.
In these two panels, organized by Dr. Ece Tekbulut through her philosophy social club Thinking Through, I offered my perspective on AI, robotics, and human relationships. I was joined by Seniha Koksal, Dr. Benjamin Shapiro, and Geoff Gibbins, who spoke on art, biomedicine, and workplace issues in light of generative AI.
I led a one-time reading and discussion of The Medium is the Massage in the McLuhan reading room at Baukunst, a reading room that was curated by Andrew McLuhan, the grandson of Marshall McLuhan.
During the discussion we used the special reading room phone to call Andrew McLuhan, and we were lucky enough to actually get him on the phone and speak with him for a bit.
I was a cohort leader and community advisory board member for the 2024 offering of Stanford University’s ETPP online course for tech practitioners.
This course offering included discussions with OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and former New Zealand prime minister Dame Jacinda Ardern.
From February to September 2021, I ran a media studies book club for Olin alumni. About six alums attended biweekly meetings for the entire duration of the club, which naturally wound down as Covid vaccines allowed normal life to resume.
I chose books to introduce attendees to the world of media studies. The curriculum, in order, was: The Shallows by Nicholas Carr, The Medium is the Massage by Quentin Fiore and Marshall McLuhan, Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, and What Can a Body Do? by Sara Hendren.