Samantha Nordstrom
Collegian File Photo
Princeton University Professor Ruha Benjamin urged a shift from solutions based in artificial intelligence to those of human imagination during a lecture Sept. 29 at Colorado State University’s Lory Student Center.
The lecture was hosted by CSU’s department of race, gender and ethnic studies and was held in the LSC’s Never No Summer Ballroom as a part of a multiyear lecture series funded by a Mellon Foundation grant. The mission of the series is to provide students, faculty and the local community with opportunities to converse with top scholars in the field of ethnic and gender studies.
Benjamin is an African American studies professor at Princeton who focuses on the interdisciplinary study of science, medicine and technology. She has won numerous awards, such as the 2024 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship and the Brooklyn Public Library Literary Prize for her book “Race After Technology: Abolitionist Tools for the New Jim Code.”
“If I had to boil down the stakes of this conversation, I’d say it’s this question: Who owns the future? What values, knowledges, aspirations, desires and world views are guiding or colonizing our shared future?” -Ruha Benjamin, Princeton University professor
Her lecture titled “Race to the Future? From Artificial Intelligence to Abundant Imagination” questioned the heavy use of AI and called the audience to tap into the valuable resource that is our imagination.
“If I had to boil down the stakes of this conversation, I’d say it’s this question: Who owns the future?” Benjamin said. “What values, knowledges, aspirations, desires and world views are guiding or colonizing our shared future?”
She also argued that in today’s age of technological advancements and multi-millionaire companies, profit motives and ownership are deemed more important than the well-being of society.
Benjamin illustrated her point with an example from Memphis, Tennessee, where Elon Musk is building a 750,000 square-foot supercomputer named Colossus. Benjamin said the facility used natural gas, which contributed to air pollution in the area, adding to a long line of environmental oppression in historically marginalized neighborhoods.
“I was surprised to hear what was happening in Tennessee,” CSU student Adelle Stanko said.
Benjamin pointed out that big projects like these often go unnoticed for their negative effects and are only recognized for their positive effects.
She touched on the fact that some forms of technology, such as AI, are not neutral and do not provide solutions for everything, as data and algorithms are prone to reproducing existing social biases.
Benjamin referenced an instance in 2020 when students in the United Kingdom were unable to take their A-level exams, equivalent to the United States’ SAT or ACT, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the government decided to use an AI algorithm to predict their grades.
Benjamin said students who went to free state schools with more diversity were predicted to receive lower test scores than their more wealthy counterparts at private schools, adding that algorithms aren’t creating problems out of nothing; they’re reflecting already existing patterns of inequity in society.
She emphasized that a focus on imagination and creativity are crucial for social change in this world.
“Boldness is rationed while realism is mass produced,” Benjamin said. “We are, in many ways, trapped inside this lopsided imagination of those who monopolize power and resources to benefit the few at the expense of the many.”
She said creativity and divergent thinking are often “schooled out” of people during early education, referencing a NASA study conducted by George Land, which found 98% of kids aged 3 to 5 scored a “genius-level” for divergent thinking. According to the study, only 2% of adults showed the same result.
Benjamin also emphasized that enacting change and correcting injustices is an enjoyable process.
“Make revolution irresistible; … make it fun,” Benjamin said. “Make it joyful.”
She told the audience about a playbook she made that features games and exercises for people to explore their imaginations, ultimately materializing the recommendations featured in one of Benjamin’s books, titled “Imagination: A Manifesto.”
With an almost entirely student audience, the ballroom was filled with many who shared Benjamin’s desire for more creativity and enthusiasm.
“My biggest takeaway is the idea of bringing joy into activism,” said Bo Rosser, an audience member and CSU student.
This lecture was one of many in CSU’s ongoing lecture series on race, gender and ethnic studies. The next lecture will kick off at 3 p.m. Oct. 30 in Ballroom A of the LSC, featuring Anna L. Tsing, an anthropology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Reach Katya Arzubi at news@collegian.com or on social media @rmcollegian.