Loads of chat and even discourse about so-called AI literacy, but I don't think most realise you need to teach things from quite a few angles and zoomed out.
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I have a lot of thoughts as to what this means, but it's too long form for here and I will share in due course. But trust me, for adults for sure, that's enough. And if any of those words confuses you, Wikipedia is very good for mathematical concepts.
3/n
The real AI literacy is not to understand any specific maths.
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
CAIL = prerequisite knowledge for a critical perspective, such as to tell apart nonsense hype from true theoretical computer scientific claims. For example, the idea that human-like systems are a sensible or possible goal is the result of circular reasoning and anthropomorphism. https://olivia.science/ai
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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The real AI literacy is not to understand any specific maths.
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
CAIL = prerequisite knowledge for a critical perspective, such as to tell apart nonsense hype from true theoretical computer scientific claims. For example, the idea that human-like systems are a sensible or possible goal is the result of circular reasoning and anthropomorphism. https://olivia.science/ai
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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Some of critical AI literacy is to understand the purposeful dodging of semantic clarity: https://scholar.social/@olivia/115157825722674869
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Some of critical AI literacy is to understand the purposeful dodging of semantic clarity: https://scholar.social/@olivia/115157825722674869
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Some of critical AI literacy is to spot how thinking in any serious or meaningful way has broken down and instead non-arguments or just pure nonsense are presented as sensible statements. If this is done constantly critical thinking itself stops happening...
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 1 image 4. the disregard for the corrosive power of anthropomorphism, which is taken advantage of by industry to sell & steal our data, in the base case scenario, and in the worst to abuse and push vulnerable groups to dependance and worse. (Section 3.4 here https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17065099) 6/n
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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Some of critical AI literacy is to spot how thinking in any serious or meaningful way has broken down and instead non-arguments or just pure nonsense are presented as sensible statements. If this is done constantly critical thinking itself stops happening...
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 1 image 4. the disregard for the corrosive power of anthropomorphism, which is taken advantage of by industry to sell & steal our data, in the base case scenario, and in the worst to abuse and push vulnerable groups to dependance and worse. (Section 3.4 here https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17065099) 6/n
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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Some of critical AI literacy is to say "hey, you know not all computers pollute or are AI nonsense machines?"
It's not that everyone specifically needs to decolonise computation actively immediately, but just to take a first step and learn to look around us properly.
Tipu's tiger is amazing; sadly stolen & now in the V&A, created in India & depicting a tiger mauling an English man.7/
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Some of critical AI literacy is to say "hey, you know not all computers pollute or are AI nonsense machines?"
It's not that everyone specifically needs to decolonise computation actively immediately, but just to take a first step and learn to look around us properly.
Tipu's tiger is amazing; sadly stolen & now in the V&A, created in India & depicting a tiger mauling an English man.7/
Also the antikythera mechanism and the Mayan calendar, both ways of modelling time passing, the earth and planets, and sun, etc. are wonderful examples of again computers with no pollution inherently and fun for kids:
See more: https://maya.nmai.si.edu/sites/default/files/resources/The%20Maya%20Calendar%20System.pdf
https://www.mayaarchaeologist.co.uk/public-resources/maya-world/maya-calendar-system/8/
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Also the antikythera mechanism and the Mayan calendar, both ways of modelling time passing, the earth and planets, and sun, etc. are wonderful examples of again computers with no pollution inherently and fun for kids:
See more: https://maya.nmai.si.edu/sites/default/files/resources/The%20Maya%20Calendar%20System.pdf
https://www.mayaarchaeologist.co.uk/public-resources/maya-world/maya-calendar-system/8/
For older learners, yes there are important steps to take including self-reflection such as in this work with @abebab — self-critical AI literacy:
Birhane, A. & Guest, O. (2021). Towards Decolonising Computational Sciences. Women, Gender & Research. https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v29i2.124899
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For older learners, yes there are important steps to take including self-reflection such as in this work with @abebab — self-critical AI literacy:
Birhane, A. & Guest, O. (2021). Towards Decolonising Computational Sciences. Women, Gender & Research. https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v29i2.124899
9/
Also another thing for teachers of programming is this — think about how, who, and what you teach and why to and whom. Women like computers too:
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 4 images Excited to share this short & sweet article I wrote with @samhforbes! Teaching coding inclusively: if this, then what? https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/3r2ez The title perhaps says it all; we show through arguments and examples what women experience in programming class and what to do to remedy it.
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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Also another thing for teachers of programming is this — think about how, who, and what you teach and why to and whom. Women like computers too:
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 4 images Excited to share this short & sweet article I wrote with @samhforbes! Teaching coding inclusively: if this, then what? https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/3r2ez The title perhaps says it all; we show through arguments and examples what women experience in programming class and what to do to remedy it.
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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respecting expertise, and I mean all kinds, is something that degrades significantly under rising fascism... so many depressing and war crime/crimes against humanity-related examples in/from the USA lately https://scholar.social/@olivia/116357060362504588
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respecting expertise, and I mean all kinds, is something that degrades significantly under rising fascism... so many depressing and war crime/crimes against humanity-related examples in/from the USA lately https://scholar.social/@olivia/116357060362504588
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it's also happening WITHIN science, e.g. https://scholar.social/@olivia/115315385419626564
notice how we say:
> assuming the mantle of the non-expert is innapropriate
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it's also happening WITHIN science, e.g. https://scholar.social/@olivia/115315385419626564
notice how we say:
> assuming the mantle of the non-expert is innapropriate
12/
also for academics, they need to take certain facts seriously on LLMs:
1️⃣ LLMs are usefully seen as lossy content-addressable systems
2️⃣ we can't automatically detect plagiarism
3️⃣ LLMs automate plagiarism & paper mills
4️⃣ we must protect literature from pollution
5️⃣ LLM use is a CoI
6️⃣ prompts do not cause output in authorial sense
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1
13/
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also for academics, they need to take certain facts seriously on LLMs:
1️⃣ LLMs are usefully seen as lossy content-addressable systems
2️⃣ we can't automatically detect plagiarism
3️⃣ LLMs automate plagiarism & paper mills
4️⃣ we must protect literature from pollution
5️⃣ LLM use is a CoI
6️⃣ prompts do not cause output in authorial sense
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1
13/
Some of critical AI literacy is to say "did you know we can do science without so much interpersonal and structural harm?"
The actual best source for all of this is Isabelle Stengers — and NO it's not just about slowing down and she in fact critiques that strongly in her book:
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Some of critical AI literacy is to say "did you know we can do science without so much interpersonal and structural harm?"
The actual best source for all of this is Isabelle Stengers — and NO it's not just about slowing down and she in fact critiques that strongly in her book:
14/
Slow science is centred on RECLAIMING the present to save the future from foreclosure, another thing AI fascists require. We push back against this fully because for all but fascists it's existential: we want to survive in the here and now and not destroy the planet, etc.
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 2 images We end on "Machine Yearning for a Better Present" because why can't we dream? Why accept that universities are not places of learning? Nothing, except industry and their paid shills amongst us, force us to accept this & this force is not one of reason, but one of regressive values & profit. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17065099 10/n
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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Slow science is centred on RECLAIMING the present to save the future from foreclosure, another thing AI fascists require. We push back against this fully because for all but fascists it's existential: we want to survive in the here and now and not destroy the planet, etc.
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 2 images We end on "Machine Yearning for a Better Present" because why can't we dream? Why accept that universities are not places of learning? Nothing, except industry and their paid shills amongst us, force us to accept this & this force is not one of reason, but one of regressive values & profit. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17065099 10/n
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
15/
Slow science also lets you do your work in peace so the excuse of "forgetting" to cite women is out the window...
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 1 image I wrote something (not directly about AI) on cryptogyny — sorry still depressing, BUT ☺️ I do end on actionable things and some fun examples along the way, such as "Comparing [the 108 women scholars until 1800] with 58,995 [men], we find that they were on average better"‼️ https://olivia.science/cryptogyny
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
16/
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Slow science also lets you do your work in peace so the excuse of "forgetting" to cite women is out the window...
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 1 image I wrote something (not directly about AI) on cryptogyny — sorry still depressing, BUT ☺️ I do end on actionable things and some fun examples along the way, such as "Comparing [the 108 women scholars until 1800] with 58,995 [men], we find that they were on average better"‼️ https://olivia.science/cryptogyny
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
16/
Which of course by the way OF COURSE is no excuse at all, but a systematic exclusion — mutatis mutandis for people of colour and more — cryptogyny, the hiding of women's contributions to science, technology, engineering, and medicine:
"although three men received the Nobel Prize for penicillin, women participated significantly in the team effort that brought the drug to medical usefulness."
JSTOR: Access Check
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
(www.jstor.org)
17/
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Which of course by the way OF COURSE is no excuse at all, but a systematic exclusion — mutatis mutandis for people of colour and more — cryptogyny, the hiding of women's contributions to science, technology, engineering, and medicine:
"although three men received the Nobel Prize for penicillin, women participated significantly in the team effort that brought the drug to medical usefulness."
JSTOR: Access Check
JSTOR is a digital library of academic journals, books, and primary sources.
(www.jstor.org)
17/
anyway ending on Ada since she started Critical AI Literacy in the 1840s
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 2 images "The Analytical Engine has no pretensions whatever to originate any thing. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform. It [cannot] anticipat[e] any analytical relations or truths. Its province is to assist us in making available what we are already acquainted with." — Ada Lovelace, 1843 https://archive.org/details/adaenchantressof00tool/page/n191/mode/2up
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
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RE: https://scholar.social/@olivia/116357032470708831
Loads of chat and even discourse about so-called AI literacy, but I don't think most realise you need to teach things from quite a few angles and zoomed out.
If people want to just know how the models work, that's not always possible without a much wider base anyway...
Our offering below:
1/n
Wow!, thank you very much @olivia & colleagues for this amazing work.
I don't have words to express my gratitude. I'm trying to educate myself on this matter so I can pass through all what I learn to folks I work with and other that are less inclined to use "tech".
And very often I can't find the right words to express why or how a lot of our IT assumptions are based on false premises and propaganda.
Your work, folks, throw a lot of light on all this matters. Again: thank you very much!
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also for academics, they need to take certain facts seriously on LLMs:
1️⃣ LLMs are usefully seen as lossy content-addressable systems
2️⃣ we can't automatically detect plagiarism
3️⃣ LLMs automate plagiarism & paper mills
4️⃣ we must protect literature from pollution
5️⃣ LLM use is a CoI
6️⃣ prompts do not cause output in authorial sense
https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1
13/
> 5️⃣ LLM use is a CoI
What is a "CoI"? Is there some part of a word missing?
Thanks for the thread. You raised some important points.
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Slow science also lets you do your work in peace so the excuse of "forgetting" to cite women is out the window...
Olivia Guest · Ολίβια Γκεστ (@olivia@scholar.social)
Attached: 1 image I wrote something (not directly about AI) on cryptogyny — sorry still depressing, BUT ☺️ I do end on actionable things and some fun examples along the way, such as "Comparing [the 108 women scholars until 1800] with 58,995 [men], we find that they were on average better"‼️ https://olivia.science/cryptogyny
Scholar Social (scholar.social)
16/
@olivia cryptogyny is an interesting word! is there a similarly pithy name for the process of pushing women out?
you mention great man theorizing, whereby popular retellings obscure or reattribute contributions to the target of the story; i had an experience this weekend that made me think of other emergent behaviour…
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Wow!, thank you very much @olivia & colleagues for this amazing work.
I don't have words to express my gratitude. I'm trying to educate myself on this matter so I can pass through all what I learn to folks I work with and other that are less inclined to use "tech".
And very often I can't find the right words to express why or how a lot of our IT assumptions are based on false premises and propaganda.
Your work, folks, throw a lot of light on all this matters. Again: thank you very much!
@f_spin you're super welcome!
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@olivia cryptogyny is an interesting word! is there a similarly pithy name for the process of pushing women out?
you mention great man theorizing, whereby popular retellings obscure or reattribute contributions to the target of the story; i had an experience this weekend that made me think of other emergent behaviour…
@olivia (bear with me here) at queer dance parties i’ve been to, gay guys like to dance near other gay guys, and once a critical mass forms they exert a gravitational pull that draws in more gay guys like a horny black hole
but in trying to be near men in the process they push out the women, who don’t tend to like to rub up against each other in quite the same way
so women often end up relegated to the back of the dancefloor, to say nothing how there’s fewer of us at events in general
