In the Schweitzer room and on Zoom, 3/4/25 @7:30 pm

For the link, send an email to HumanistGroup@first-unitarian-pgh.org

Description: When we imagine AI, what do we imagine? A shiny robot with a human face posing like Rodin’s The Thinker? Or perhaps a brain sitting atop an enlarged picture of a silicone microchip. These are the top results on an image search of AI, but what is hidden from view is the real human and material reality of AI. Where are the images of the refugee camps in Syria, Kenya, and Uganda where organizations train refugees to categorize images for companies like Amazon and Google? Where are the images of the foul-smelling black lake in Baotou filled with the acidic waste from processing rare earth materials needed for both high-powered computation and consumer electronics? In this talk, we will explore the many ways in which the high costs of AI are pushed onto the environment and vulnerable human populations. In doing so, we will come to understand AI as a tangible material reality and reckon with the AI boom as a labor and environmental revolution as well as a technological revolution.

Speaker: Justin Shin

Speaker Bio: Justin Shin is a Ph.D. student in the History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Pittsburgh. His main interests center around Mathematics and Science in Law. Currently, he is working on causal modeling in discrimination law and the history of conversion therapy.”

Justin gave a well-recieved talk to us in March of last year.. He spoke about aspects of the use of AI in courts.