A new interdisciplinary research centre with a mission to investigate Artificial Intelligence has been launched by the University of Exeter.
The Critical AI Centre (CrAIC) will explore the complex and evolving roles and risks associated with conceptions of artificial intelligence in society.
Drawing on expertise from disciplines within the arts and humanities, social sciences, and computer science, CrAIC promises to take a collaborative approach to different ways we can study AI.
It was formally launched by academics in the University's Department of Communications, Drama and Film at a two-day workshop held on the Streatham campus this month.
"Artificial intelligence is everywhere in today's headlines, simultaneously hailed as a revolutionary breakthrough, feared as a looming threat, and debated as if it were an unstoppable force," says Dr Patrick Gildersleve, Lecturer in Communications and Artificial Intelligence, and Co-Director of CrAIC. "But AI is not a singular invention: it is a shifting set of technologies and ideas, bound up with the values and power relations of those who build and govern it."
More than 100 attendees from countries as diverse as Brazil, Australia, India and Egypt took part in the workshop, either in-person or online, with 13 invited speakers sharing some of the latest research and reflections on AI across three panels.
Speakers explored how AI is entangled with issues of identity and labour, particularly in the Global South, and how these experiences connect to wider social and environmental consequences. The conversations also turned to the political dimensions of AI its role in conflict, and the forms of regulation and resistance it against it.
Following the panels, organisers and speakers joined a brainstorming session to discuss future ideas for the centre, and the event concluded with a public roundtable reflecting on the event and addressing questions submitted by the audience.
"For the University, CrAIC brings an interdisciplinary space for thinking about AI that is both conscious of its capabilities and critical of the social, cultural, and political forces shaping it," adds Dr Brett Zehner, fellow co-lead for the CrAIC.
Professor Andrea Medrado, Co-director of Research for the Department of Communications, Drama and Film and Co-Director of CrAIC, continues: "We understand that colleagues, students, and communities are curious or concerned about AI, often in spaces where it is imposed or unavoidable. We hope to represent and work with these voices, bringing our own expertise on technology and society. In the future, we hope to expand our network across the University and link into wider academic, policy, and social movements."
