Tame and Disarm Dangerous Algorithms

For this episode, we consider hardtruth #53; “tame and disarm dangerous algorithms.” It was written by Geert Lovink, a media theorist from the Institute of Network Cultures in the Netherlands. He reads his writing for my online primer on digital media literacy where he refers to the work of mathematician Cathy O'Neill and a series of questions about the viability of media literacy and fake news being raised at that time. Then, we hear from Professor Jacqueline Wernimont, Distinguished Chair of Digital Humanities and Social Engagement & Associate Professor of Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Dartmouth College. At a Fake News Poetry Workshop in 2018 she fed a bot some words of decency. Programmed to help us better understand the algorthmic stupidity of AI by project collaborator, Dr. Kyle Booten, the words of Buddhist monk and peace activist Thich Nhat Hanh; Joy Harjo, the first Native American national poet laureate; and the feminist digital pedagogy collective, FemTechNet allowed for poetry from which we have all learned:Voice is perfectRESOLVE is now conflict, (and)Disappearance is peace.Jacque speaks about how this poem helps her to understand the archive more ethically in these very dark times; Geert ends the episode on an upbeat (dark) note, by setting the poem to music!.........................Join us as we work together to learn about, and thereby alter, the connections between fake news, artificial intelligence, and the stupid but powerful algorithms that underwrite the digital ecosphere.Read or respond to a poem or hardtruth found at the online primer of digital media literacy, #100hardtruths-#fakenews or fakenews-poetry.org.Organize your own Fake News Poetry Workshop.Reach out with questions or content @ [email protected]: @100HardTruthsInstagram: @100HardTruthsYouTube: 100 Hard Truths Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.