[Ssnet_list] Happening Today at 7pm | Alondra Nelson's lecture on 'Algorithmic Agnotology' | Tech Policy Lab | Thurs. April 3, 7 pm | Kane 120

[Monika Sengul-Jones via Ssnet_list]

Hi everyone,

A reminder about Dr. Alondra Nelson's Distinguished Lecture today, at 7 PM.
Details and the link to register are below.

Warmly,
Monika

On Mon, Mar 31, 2025 at 9:02 AM Monika Sengul-Jones <mmjones at uw.edu> wrote:


> *Welcome, new members, to the Society + Technology at UW listserv. *

>

> Hi everyone,

>

> The pink cherry blossoms are throwing a party, and I'm writing to remind

> you that the UW Tech Policy Lab proudly welcomes Dr. Alondra Nelson for the

> Distinguished Lecture this Thursday, April 3rd, at 7 PM in Kane Hall 120.

> Her lecture, on the strategic production of ignorance, is free and open to

> the public. Register here

> <https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeV0gThmzouRSiVpBFMp7iwxspggVLB0TBn7EmPj6mdFw84nA/viewform>

> .

>

> About the lecture:

> Algorithmic Agnotology: On AI, Ignorance, and Power

>

> In this lecture, Alondra Nelson examines the exercise of power through

> agnotology—the strategic production of ignorance—drawing on foundational

> work on how industries manufactured doubt to protect their interests. She

> introduces “algorithmic agnotology” to describe how Big Tech and AI

> companies create knowledge asymmetries through technical obscurantism,

> selective transparency, and the deliberate framing of AI limitations as

> mysterious rather than systemic. By contrasting traditional and algorithmic

> forms of manufactured ignorance, she demonstrates how the “AI race”

> accelerates knowledge disparities, with implications that extend beyond

> technical domains into fundamental questions of democratic governance and

> digital rights.

>

> About the speaker:

> Dr. Alondra Nelson, a renowned scholar and author, is the Harold F. Linder

> Professor at the Institute for Advanced Study, where she leads the Science,

> Technology, and Social Values Lab. Author of The Social Life of DNA, she

> served as Deputy Assistant to President Biden and Acting Director of the

> White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, where her work

> advanced responsible technological development, scientific integrity, and

> public access to taxpayer-funded research.

>

> In 2023, she was named to the inaugural TIME100 list of the most

> influential people in artificial intelligence and recognized by Nature as

> one of the “Ten People Who Shaped Science.” Dr. Nelson also advises

> governments and global organizations and is a distinguished member of

> leading scientific and policy academies.

>

>

>

>

>

> Yours[image: Alondra Nelson in front of the American Flag.]

>

>

> Yours,

> Monika Sengul-Jones, PhD she/they

> Director of Strategy and Operations

> Society + Technology at UW

> Hosted in the Tech Policy Lab

> www.societyandtechnology.uw.edu

> email: mmjones at uw.edu

>

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