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

[Monika Sengul-Jones via Ssnet_list]

*A version of this message was cross-posted with the Society + Technology
at UW listserv.*

Hi everyone,

You likely already know the UW's cherry trees are throwing a pink party, so
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; a real flowering. To note: parking might be tricky,
but worth the effort. 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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