Can Artificial Intelligence Bridge Divides, Or Will it Separate Us Further?
Oak Ridge Periodic Tables and the “Healing Starts Here” grant initiative from the New Pluralists combined forces last year to help get the “Secret City” talking again about issues that matter. We’ve paid careful attention over the past 14 months to reclaiming stories and featuring histories that have for too long been on the edges of our city’s conversations. Our desire has been to bring those to the center, and to talk honestly about how what we choose to notice can be influenced by our personal experiences and biases.
As part of my research (this is David writing), I stumbled across several articles by Khari Johnson (Wired magazine), Arshin Adib-Moghaddam (author of Is Artificial Intelligence Racist?), and several others who argue that many of our everyday biases become translated into data which is then used to fuel responses by Artificial Intelligence engines like ChatGPT and DALL-E.
I decided to put my questions to the test and went straight to ChatGPT to ask it a few direct questions, to see how it answered for itself. These included things like…
“Can you inadvertently disenfranchise groups based on how you were programmed?”
“Do you consider yourself biased?”
“Can your technology be used to help build trust in communities?”
To be honest, I was surprised by its answers – in a good way. That’s when I had a completely absurd idea, but one I think might be fun to attempt….
What if we allowed AI to ‘chat’ and ‘create images’ to help guide a Periodic Table?
I wondered what kinds of things we would pick up on as a group as Chat GPT responded, and even how the questions we ask AI could be different based on our lived experiences and unconscious biases. I imagined groups of people around tables allowing AI to open topics and possibilities for examination, perhaps some even that we would often be too reserved to go to in a normal setting.
Can AI be trusted to moderate or lead a conversation?
I want to find out, so I’ve picked a date for us to test it out. On Sunday, March 17 at 5:00 PM, we gather in the lobby of the Historic Grove Theater to enjoy a nice dinner together. We will begin with a short demonstration of how ChatGPT works and then we’ll generate a few questions and test the AI at our tables before coming back together as a large group to share what we’ve uncovered and how we feel about the conversations we had – both with AI and with each other.
I’d like to survey us before and after this AI led conversation to generate some data on how effective or ineffective, we found this format to be, so there will be a very brief before & after survey conducted.
Oak Ridge is known to be one of the research capitals of the world… let’s be adventurous and see how challenging Artificial Intelligence to help lead a conversation on healing and civic engagement works. I am not certain that anyone else is trying it, we might be the first!
RSVP for this unique opportunity on the button below:
Other Quick Items of Interest —
Round Two of Our Racial Bridging Series Begins in April. We are the in the process of gathering our planning team. If you would like to apply to be part of our planning team, theh application is found here: https://www.oakridgeperiodictables.com/racial-bridging-application
Saturday, February 17 @ 1:00 PM — Black Appalachian Storytellers are in Concert at the Grove Theater. This is a free event. You can learn more and reserve a seat at our Eventbrite page: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/black-appalachian-storytellers-of-tennessee-concert-tickets-830331713507?aff=oddtdtcreator
Friday, March 29th the Scarboro 85 present the Fisk Jubilee Singers! Grab tickets while they last because this show has the potential to sell out quickly! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-scarboro-85-present-the-fisk-jubilee-singers-in-concert-tickets-779962668337
Thank you for staying a part of this movement and for bringing your trust and expertise to all our conversations!