Extra Credit Event #1

 June 1, 2023

I attended the LASER: De-colonizing AI lecture event! I was very excited for the event because I am studying policy at UCLA so most of my studies concentrate on addressing issues of inequity. While I was excited, I didn't enjoy the lecture as much as I had hoped I would. 

I enjoyed the first half. To start the lecture, Professor Vesna introduced Amir Baradaran and explained how their collaboration began due to Baradaran's work during a summit called AnotherAI.art that brought together many experts to discuss the connections between critical discussions, art, and artificial intelligence (Vesna).

[Image 1] Photo taken during the event of Amir Baradaran speaking during his lecture.

The main idea that I took away from Baradaran's work is that artists should ask important questions about AI, to explore issues of access, fairness, and equality. They can examine how AI may perpetuate biases and marginalize certain groups, such as people of color, immigrants, and women. By critiquing AI, artists can bring to light marginalized knowledge systems and challenge the power structures that shape our society, leading to decolonization and a reevaluation of our intellectual, political, economic, and social norms (Baradaran).

The latter half of the lecture, I found incredibly challenging to understand. The theme remained the same, examining how AI models present equity issues. However, the speaker that followed Baradaran presented her information in such an academic way that I found her point to be very convoluted. I didn't particularly enjoy the second half of the lecture, the way the information was being presented felt alienating and at times a little pretentious. Perhaps that's because I don't know enough about the subject and thus was not the target audience. 

[Image 2] Image taken during the event. An example of the difficult language and structure of the latter half of the lecture.

Overall, I'm not sure that I would recommend this event for other students with a limited understanding of AI to attend. If you are highly interested in the broader implications of AI equity and are coming into the event with some understanding of how it works, maybe this would be a great lecture for you! For me, I felt like I walked out knowing even less than I came into the presentation with. 

[Image 3] Zoom link confirmation and proof of attendance!

References

Baradaran, Amir. "LASER: De-colonizing AI." LASER TALKS AT CAMBRIDGE IN                              COLLABORATION WITH LASER UCLA, 1 June 2023. Lecture. 

“Laser Talks at Cambridge in Collaboration with Laser UCLA: De-Colonizing AI.” Leonardo/ISASTwith Arizona State University, leonardo.info/civicrm/event/info%3Fid%3D805%26reset%3D1. Accessed 7 June 2023.

Venkataraman, Ramnath, et al. “Ai and Equality.” Harvard Business Review - Ideas and Advice for Leaders, 12 Nov. 2020, hbr.org/insight-center/ai-and-equality.

Vesna, Victoria. "Lecture Introduction." LASER TALKS AT CAMBRIDGE IN COLLABORATION         WITH LASER UCLA, 1 June 2023. Lecture.