Also I know a lot of people crave an answer to how they work that extends beyond the maths anyway (even if they don't realise it).

But consider why these descriptions aren't enough about artificial neural networks, but petrol go in piston move wheel spin is enough for cars?

https://scholar.social/@olivia/115411100719613633

2/n

I have a lot of thoughts as to what this means, but it's too long form for here and I will share in due course. But trust me, for adults for sure, that's enough. And if any of those words confuses you, Wikipedia is very good for mathematical concepts.

3/n

The real AI literacy is not to understand any specific maths.

https://scholar.social/@olivia/116188565718565127

4/

Some of critical AI literacy is to understand the purposeful dodging of semantic clarity: https://scholar.social/@olivia/115157825722674869

5/

Some of critical AI literacy is to spot how thinking in any serious or meaningful way has broken down and instead non-arguments or just pure nonsense are presented as sensible statements. If this is done constantly critical thinking itself stops happening...

https://scholar.social/@olivia/115157838955510719

6/

Some of critical AI literacy is to say "hey, you know not all computers pollute or are AI nonsense machines?"

It's not that everyone specifically needs to decolonise computation actively immediately, but just to take a first step and learn to look around us properly.

🐯 Tipu's tiger is amazing; sadly stolen & now in the V&A, created in India & depicting a tiger mauling an English man.

7/

Also the antikythera mechanism and the Mayan calendar, both ways of modelling time passing, the earth and planets, and sun, etc. are wonderful examples of again computers with no pollution inherently and fun for kids:

See more: https://maya.nmai.si.edu/sites/default/files/resources/The%20Maya%20Calendar%20System.pdf
https://www.mayaarchaeologist.co.uk/public-resources/maya-world/maya-calendar-system/

8/

For older learners, yes there are important steps to take including self-reflection such as in this work with @abebab — self-critical AI literacy:

Birhane, A. & Guest, O. (2021). Towards Decolonising Computational Sciences. Women, Gender & Research. https://doi.org/10.7146/kkf.v29i2.124899

9/

Also another thing for teachers of programming is this — think about how, who, and what you teach and why to and whom. Women like computers too:

https://scholar.social/@olivia/111146940320833033

10/

respecting expertise, and I mean all kinds, is something that degrades significantly under rising fascism... so many depressing and war crime/crimes against humanity-related examples in/from the USA lately https://scholar.social/@olivia/116357060362504588

11/

it's also happening WITHIN science, e.g. https://scholar.social/@olivia/115315385419626564

notice how we say:

> assuming the mantle of the non-expert is innapropriate

12/

also for academics, they need to take certain facts seriously on LLMs:

1️⃣ LLMs are usefully seen as lossy content-addressable systems

2️⃣ we can't automatically detect plagiarism

3️⃣ LLMs automate plagiarism & paper mills

4️⃣ we must protect literature from pollution

5️⃣ LLM use is a CoI

6️⃣ prompts do not cause output in authorial sense

https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/dkrgj_v1

13/

Some of critical AI literacy is to say "did you know we can do science without so much interpersonal and structural harm?"

The actual best source for all of this is Isabelle Stengers — and NO it's not just about slowing down and she in fact critiques that strongly in her book:

https://www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?book_slug=another-science-is-possible-a-manifesto-for-slow-science---9781509521807

14/

Slow science is centred on RECLAIMING the present to save the future from foreclosure, another thing AI fascists require. We push back against this fully because for all but fascists it's existential: we want to survive in the here and now and not destroy the planet, etc.

https://scholar.social/@olivia/115157851524510620

15/

Slow science also lets you do your work in peace so the excuse of "forgetting" to cite women is out the window...

https://scholar.social/@olivia/116234574757735306

16/

@olivia cryptogyny is an interesting word! is there a similarly pithy name for the process of pushing women out?

you mention great man theorizing, whereby popular retellings obscure or reattribute contributions to the target of the story; i had an experience this weekend that made me think of other emergent behaviour…

@olivia (bear with me here) at queer dance parties i’ve been to, gay guys like to dance near other gay guys, and once a critical mass forms they exert a gravitational pull that draws in more gay guys like a horny black hole

but in trying to be near men in the process they push out the women, who don’t tend to like to rub up against each other in quite the same way

so women often end up relegated to the back of the dancefloor, to say nothing how there’s fewer of us at events in general