I have spent a considerable amount of time thinking about AI and its implications for DEI. After reading Bender et al. (2021), I have come to the conclusion that my attitude towards LMs and digital rhetorics is a fairly accurate one. The digital landscape, not unlike the “real” world, is one where access is broadly unequal and hegemonic worldviews persist in those spaces. In short: There is no hope on the internet that doesn’t already lie within the human spirit. We must do with this fact what we will.
“Digital Rhetoric and Hope”
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I really like this point, Patrick; it gets me thinking, too, about how sometimes hopelessness linked relationally offsets (sort of like a double-negative) to spark hope. This is me just thinking in the open, but I wonder whether the hope sparked across hopeless isolates/individuals, even if it is not new per se, remains one of the generative and alluring draws with the internet, in that, despite its legitimate drawbacks and shortcomings, it can foster connection and relationality, which can in turn elicit hope. Maybe?