How not to use “AI” (workshop)

I was asked to give a workshop on “AI” at a PhD conference (being a professor of “AI, Language Diversity, and Communication Technologies” is asking for trouble, of course). I decided to write back to say the workshop I could offer was one on how not to use it. Abstract: In a time when it seems impossible to escape talk of the endless “opportunities” and “possibilities” of using “AI”, in this workshop we take a step back and think about how NOT to use it. I will cover a bunch of joyful activities that make the research process meaningful, and I invite participants to think along with me. We will discuss, among other things, the joy of reading deeply and widely; the struggle, and liberation, of finding your own voice in academic writing; and the risks and rewards of slow science (Stengers 2018). The mirage of “AI” reaches us through a narrative centered on inevitability, productivity, and efficiency. It is therefore at loggerheads with the values of a healthy academia, which questions…