Monday, March 11 kicked off Jesuit’s fourth annual Social Justice Week with a theme of “Artificial Intelligence and Ethical Tech Use”. Keynote speaker Serena Oduro ‘16 and many students taught the community what AI really is, and how it affects different social issues.
Oduro was welcomed back to Jesuit to talk about her experience in Tech Policy. In college, she focused on courses in history and social justice, but decided post graduation to take a non-science or math based perspective into the world of tech policy. Now she’s helped write policies regarding algorithms as well as poetry about Black Feminism.
Jesuit students also stepped up to teach their peers about the pros and cons of AI and how it intertwines with a multitude of issues.
Juniors Kiara Connor and Madelyn Zeidlhack held their own session: “AI and Environmental Justice.”
The two shared about what the popular form of AI called Chat GPT does, and demonstrated how it can actually give you personal pointers on how to be more eco-friendly. Participants used AI generated images and Chat GPT’s personalized responses regarding fast fashion, plastic use, and transportation, to create educational posters.
Connor has heard students talking about their experiences exploring AI from the sessions they attended.
“I think by the end of the week, everyone will have a better understanding of AI and everything it can be used for,” Connor said.
Madeline Ward ‘25, Lizzy Dellit ‘25, and Kekoa Dowset ‘24 led a breakout session together as well. They chose to focus on how AI affects creative writing, and explained that while “chat-boxes” can help edit and brainstorm words, they cannot replace the artistry of human writing.
“Creative writing can be such a personal gift of artistry and humanity to others,” Ward emphasized.
As Ms. Montez said to introduce this week, students should leave with more questions than answers, and Ward agreed.
“We had people ask deep questions that were difficult for us to answer even after doing so much research, simply due to how new and complex this discussion of AI is. We wish we had even more workshop time to dive further into all the nuances of the subject and discuss it thoroughly in a big group,” Ward said.
