Attending Dr. Ruha Benjamin's Viral Justice Book Talk- Attending author talks/book readings: 2 points

 

            On Wednesday, September 17, I had the opportunity to attend Dr. Ruha Benjamin's book talk for her book Viral Justice. During the lecture, she explained how there are emerging terms and leaders in the tech space that are meant to keep changemakers out. She goes into how white male billionaires such as Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos are told to be the ones "owning the future" due to their financial power. Society views them as fellow "colleagues," but Benjamin explains how, in actuality, they are colonizers. The two people in a group that make up an oligarchy, which she calls the "Broligarchy," a group of wealthy white nob who not only rule the Tech space but also aim to control the entire country. They help implement tools such as artificial intelligence, also known as AI, to "help people," ignoring the harm AI has on all communities, especially minorities. 

             Dr. Benjamin continues her lecture to explain that there is a flipped side to the word "AI" known as Ancestral Intelligence. Rather than conforming to the ideals of Big Tech, society should reorient itself to appreciate the knowledge passed down from its ancestors. Big Tech's main goal is to ignore the impact of the humanities and advocacy. It promotes dependency on artificial intelligence and the sole pursuit of STEM majors, as it allows people to care less about the human factors necessary to become a changemaker. 

             I was moved by Dr. Benjamin's entire lecture because it helped me feel confident in a new decision I made regarding my major. I never felt passionate about my engineering major and decided to switch into an Environmental Science major with a minor in Political Science. My goal in life is to be a changemaker, and Dr. Benjamin showed me that it involves balancing STEM and the humanities rather than fully depending on the Tech space. At the end of the lecture, Dr. Benjamin autographed my copy of Viral Justice, which is a moment I will always cherish. 

- Taje' George