From Disadvantage to Digital Futures: Women, AI, and the Complexities of Survival

This talk will explore the ways in which experiences of homelessness, substance use, and involvement with the criminal justice system are highly gendered. It will focus on women affected by ‘severe and multiple disadvantage’ who experience all of these things, noting that many become trapped in webs of harm that are extremely difficult to escape. It will highlight the horrifying levels of violence these women experience but also their incredible courage and resilience. It will conclude with reflections regarding what needs to be done to eradicate the webs of harm.
WARNING: This talk touches on subjects that some people may find distressing (e.g. gender-based violence and child abuse).

Artificial intelligence (AI) has been one of the most contested and controversial topics since its inception in 1955. With recent advances such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT or the open use of AI in warfare, it is worth understanding how this term has travelled from scientific labs to science fiction and back. It is a story full of drama and discord among scientists who compete for money and fame using the immense power of human language. AI’s history is one full of hype and disillusionment cycles and this talk will give you all that is needed about AI before anyone tries to AI-splain you things again.