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CSLG organises a seminar by Anupam Guha

CSLG organises a seminar by Anupam Guha

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CSLG organises a seminar by Anupam Guha
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CENTRE FOR THE STUDY OF LAW AND GOVERNANCE

Jawaharlal Nehru University

 

SEMINAR SERIES

 

Anupam Guha

 

 

On

 

What is to be done?: A Critique of and Alternatives to the Extractive Imagination of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

 

 Abstract :The imminence of artificial intelligence has been accompanied by a narrative of inevitability in social relations based on premises which have not been critically interrogated. Companies are selling “AI solutions” to problems where neither what constitutes AI nor whether these problems are technological in nature is debated as fiercely as it should, if only to prevent unforeseen consequences. These premises do not question the extractive nature of current social relations and thus imagine AI in the role of accelerant and property and not much else. This lack of political imagination has potentially dire consequences of furthering inequity, baking in precarity, and freezing structural oppression, perhaps even causing regression. Even the critique of AI policy in a sense accepts these premises and focuses on bias and transparency of systems as they are used now, rather than power and ownership, both legitimising solutionism and diverting the blame for what are sociological problems onto technology. Considering the oppressive and the emancipatory potential of AI systems it becomes our task to critique both the social relations it is premised on and provide an alternative imagination for AI which explores the nature of work and property in the era of automation. This talk will go into (in the Indian context) the limitations of current policy thought when it comes to AI, a critique of band aid measures being presented like UBI and robot taxes, and an exploration of the premises, especially the nature of data as property, current policy is being written on. The talk will then present an alternative imagination for labour in relation to AI, of work, wage, and public prosperity, and thus a framework for what is to be done.

 

3.00 PM, Thursday, 31 January 2019

Conference Room, CSLG, JNU

 

About the Speaker: Anupam Guha is a computer scientist, working on Artificial Intelligence and Computational Linguistics based in the US east coast with a PhD from the University of Maryland (batch of 2017) and a MS from Georgia Tech (batch of 2010). He is deeply interested in and does outreach on the future social, political, and economic implications of AI, especially both its oppressive and emancipatory potentials for labour. Dr. Guha does advocacy for an increased communication between silos of academia, science informed policy, politics informed science, and supports free, universal, and quality higher education.

 

 PLEASE JOIN US FOR TEA AFTER THE SEMINAR. 

ALL ARE WELCOME.

A warm welcome to the modified and updated website of the Centre for East Asian Studies. The East Asian region has been at the forefront of several path-breaking changes since 1970s beginning with the redefining the development architecture with its State-led development model besides emerging as a major region in the global politics and a key hub of the sophisticated technologies. The Centre is one of the thirteen Centres of the School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi that provides a holistic understanding of the region.

Initially, established as a Centre for Chinese and Japanese Studies, it subsequently grew to include Korean Studies as well. At present there are eight faculty members in the Centre. Several distinguished faculty who have now retired include the late Prof. Gargi Dutt, Prof. P.A.N. Murthy, Prof. G.P. Deshpande, Dr. Nranarayan Das, Prof. R.R. Krishnan and Prof. K.V. Kesavan. Besides, Dr. Madhu Bhalla served at the Centre in Chinese Studies Programme during 1994-2006. In addition, Ms. Kamlesh Jain and Dr. M. M. Kunju served the Centre as the Documentation Officers in Chinese and Japanese Studies respectively.

The academic curriculum covers both modern and contemporary facets of East Asia as each scholar specializes in an area of his/her interest in the region. The integrated course involves two semesters of classes at the M. Phil programme and a dissertation for the M. Phil and a thesis for Ph. D programme respectively. The central objective is to impart an interdisciplinary knowledge and understanding of history, foreign policy, government and politics, society and culture and political economy of the respective areas. Students can explore new and emerging themes such as East Asian regionalism, the evolving East Asian Community, the rise of China, resurgence of Japan and the prospects for reunification of the Korean peninsula. Additionally, the Centre lays great emphasis on the building of language skills. The background of scholars includes mostly from the social science disciplines; History, Political Science, Economics, Sociology, International Relations and language.

Several students of the centre have been recipients of prestigious research fellowships awarded by Japan Foundation, Mombusho (Ministry of Education, Government of Japan), Saburo Okita Memorial Fellowship, Nippon Foundation, Korea Foundation, Nehru Memorial Fellowship, and Fellowship from the Chinese and Taiwanese Governments. Besides, students from Japan receive fellowship from the Indian Council of Cultural Relations.