Feminists Tackle AI Series: Entrusting to Eliza: Some Risks of Post-Secondary Partnership with Generative AI Technology

Thursday, April 16, 2:30-4 p.m.

SN-4022; Online

In this talk, Dr. Jennifer Jill Fellows focuses on the reality that many educational institutions are under pressure to find ways to make generative AI chatbots learning partners. One of the many functions of post-secondary in society is to ground epistemic trust. In that sense, insofar as educational institutions serve to ground epistemic trust, and insofar as educational institutions are answering the call to partner with generative AI chatbots, what we are really seeing is educational institutions serving to ground public trust in generative AI technology. Employing insights from feminist epistemology, I argue that, should post-secondary answer this call, we may lead students into dangerous relations of trust with AI.

Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Jill Fellows (she/her) is a faculty member in the Philosophy Department at Douglas College and a public philosopher. She has co-produced two episodes of CBC Ideas, one exploring the gendering of digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, and another one examining the paranormal aspects of the Turing Test. She is also the host and producer of the feminist tech studies podcast Cyborg Goddess. Her research interests are in philosophy of science and technology, feminist philosophy, social epistemology, and practical ethics.

Moderator: Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis (she/her) is Associate Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at Memorial University, where she received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She won the 2023 Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing for The Solidarity Encounter (2022) and is a white settler member of No More Silence, a grassroots network raising awareness about MMIWG2S in Canada.

Respondent: Julia Polyck-O’Neill (they/she) is Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Communication and Media Studies at Memorial. Their research explores historical and contemporary feminist, digital approaches to interdisciplinary artists’ archives and intersections between preservation, computational technologies, and creative praxis.

Respondent: Sarah Martin (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Geography at Memorial. Currently, she is researching the dynamics of food, feed, and fuel in relation to industrial animal production on land and in the sea.

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KvizTtC8X/

This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Gender Studies, the Department of Political Science, and the Nexus Centre, with financial support from the MUN 100th Anniversary fund.

Presented by Rabble Rousers, Department of Gender Studies

Event Listing 2026-04-16 14:30:00 2026-04-16 16:00:00 America/St_Johns Feminists Tackle AI Series: Entrusting to Eliza: Some Risks of Post-Secondary Partnership with Generative AI Technology In this talk, Dr. Jennifer Jill Fellows focuses on the reality that many educational institutions are under pressure to find ways to make generative AI chatbots learning partners. One of the many functions of post-secondary in society is to ground epistemic trust. In that sense, insofar as educational institutions serve to ground epistemic trust, and insofar as educational institutions are answering the call to partner with generative AI chatbots, what we are really seeing is educational institutions serving to ground public trust in generative AI technology. Employing insights from feminist epistemology, I argue that, should post-secondary answer this call, we may lead students into dangerous relations of trust with AI. Keynote Speaker: Jennifer Jill Fellows (she/her) is a faculty member in the Philosophy Department at Douglas College and a public philosopher. She has co-produced two episodes of CBC Ideas, one exploring the gendering of digital assistants like Siri and Alexa, and another one examining the paranormal aspects of the Turing Test. She is also the host and producer of the feminist tech studies podcast Cyborg Goddess. Her research interests are in philosophy of science and technology, feminist philosophy, social epistemology, and practical ethics. Moderator: Carol Lynne D’Arcangelis (she/her) is Associate Professor in the Department of Gender Studies at Memorial University, where she received the Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She won the 2023 Atlantic Book Award for Scholarly Writing for The Solidarity Encounter (2022) and is a white settler member of No More Silence, a grassroots network raising awareness about MMIWG2S in Canada. Respondent: Julia Polyck-O’Neill (they/she) is Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Communication and Media Studies at Memorial. Their research explores historical and contemporary feminist, digital approaches to interdisciplinary artists’ archives and intersections between preservation, computational technologies, and creative praxis. Respondent: Sarah Martin (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Political Science and Geography at Memorial. Currently, she is researching the dynamics of food, feed, and fuel in relation to industrial animal production on land and in the sea. Register at https://shorturl.at/kppTB Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1KvizTtC8X/ This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Gender Studies, the Department of Political Science, and the Nexus Centre, with financial support from the MUN 100th Anniversary fund. SN-4022; Online Rabble Rousers, Department of Gender Studies