NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, Sloane Lab, and the Karsh Institute of Democracy at the University of Virginia invite you to a new discussion in the series “Co-Opting AI.” This will be a completely virtual event.

This event will excavate AI’s longstanding obsession with human anatomical features, from faces to fingerprints, and consider that legacy vis-à-vis AI’s widespread use in different social institutions.

Thomas H. Champney, Ph.D. is a Professor of Cell Biology and Anatomy at the University of Miami. He teaches first year medical students gross anatomy, histology and neuroanatomy and coordinates the South Florida Willed Body Program for the State Anatomical Board. In addition, he is on the University’s Ethics Program (now the Institute for Bioethics and Health Policy). He helps teach the Responsible Conduct of Research course as well as teaching in a graduate level Research Ethics course. He publishes commentaries on the ethical use of human tissues, notably the use of willed bodies, and is a member of the International Federation of Associations of Anatomists (IFAA) Medical Humanities and Ethics group. He earned his PhD in Biomedical Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and has held positions at the University of Delaware, Texas A&M University, St. George’s University, and the University of Zurich.

Rachel Prentice is an associate professor in the Department of Science & Technology Studies at Cornell University. Her work has focused on embodied and digital learning in biomedicine, particularly as medical students and residents learn anatomy and surgery. She is the author of Bodies in Formation: An Ethnography of Anatomy and Surgery Education (Duke University Press, 2013). Her more recent work focuses on embodied learning and sensory relations in human and animal worlds.

Jacqueline D. Wernimont, Ph.D., is a Professor of Digital Humanities and Social Engagement at Dartmouth College. She specializes in long histories of digital media, histories of quantification, and technologies of commemoration, as well as the resource consumption of intensive computing applications. Her first book, Numbered Lives: Life and Death in Quantum Media (MIT Press, 2018) traces long histories (21st century to 16th century) of technologies that count human life and death, including wearable devices, body measurements, and body counts. With Elizabeth Losh she also co-edited Bodies of Information: Feminist Debates in Digital Humanities, which is part of the University of Minnesota Debates in Digital Humanities series. She received her Ph.D. and M.A. in English Literature from Brown University and a B.A. in English (with Honors) from the University of Iowa, where she also studied Molecular Biology. Prior to Dartmouth, she taught at Harvey Mudd College, Scripps College, and Arizona State University.

Mona Sloane, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Data Science and Media Studies at the University of Virginia (UVA). As a sociologist, she studies the intersection of technology and society, specifically in the context of AI design, use, and policy. She also convenes the Co-Opting AI series and serves as the editor of the Co-Opting AI book series at the University of California Press as well as the Technology Editor for Public Books. At UVA, Mona runs Sloane Lab which conducts empirical research on the implications of technology for the organization of social life. Its focus lies on AI as a social phenomenon that intersects with wider cultural, economic, material, and political conditions. The lab spearheads social science leadership in applied work on responsible AI, public scholarship, and technology policy. More here: monasloane.org.

The Co-Opting AI event series is convened by Mona Sloane. It is hosted by NYU’s Institute for Public Knowledge, UVA’s Karsh Institute of Democracy, and Sloane Lab.