"Between Hype and Conspiracy: Can We Engage with Conspiracy Theorists?" - Dr Stephen Hughes (UCL)
Wednesday 8th March (HT23 week 8), 1:30pm-3:30pm, 21 Banbury Road Conference Room
"A neuralnanorobotically enabled human brain/cloud interface might serve as a personalized conduit [...] to engage in fully immersive experiential/sensory experiences, including what is referred to here as 'transparent shadowing'. Through transparent shadowing, individuals might experience episodic segments of the lives of others."
This quote doesn't come from a conspiracy theory blog about the Great Reset, but rather from a 2019 paper from Frontiers in Neuroscience. This talk will explore the relationship between hype and conspiracy, asking whether scientists might be contributing to conspiracy theorists deepest fears and how we might address it.
I will draw on research I am conducting as a responsible innovation consultant on a European research project that is developing touchless haptic technology using neurocognitive AI. I will discuss the narratives that researchers use to imagine the technology and its applications (e.g., the movie Demolition Man) and how these narratives converge with conspiracy imaginaries of bio-applied AI as a plot to enslave humanity.
Preparation - Design a conspiracy theory flier based on some research taking place in your institution. We will discuss the fliers during the workshop.
(The idea of the flier is to discuss the underlying social tensions beneath the conspiracy theories as they relate to researchers' own work).
The workshop will last 2 hours and include a break with light refreshments.
Registration required
Please register your interest by filling out this form: https://oxford.onlinesurveys.ac.uk/workshop-between-hype-and-conspiracy-can-we-engage-with.
Places are very limited so registration is essential. In the case of being oversubscribed, priority will be given to Materials Outreach Ambassadors, followed by other members of the Department of Materials.
If you have any questions about the event, please email oliver.thomas@materials.ox.ac.uk.
About the Speaker
Dr Stephen Hughes is a Lecturer in Science, Technology and Society and Director of UCL's Responsible Innovation short course.
Stephen is fascinated by cases where responsible innovation and public engagement with science are characterised by discomfort, difficulty, and controversy. He approaches these cases with novel methods which seek to uncover and respond to the emotional and conflictual dimensions of science-society issues.
Stephen has spent the last couple of years building UCL's programme of responsible innovation. This includes the delivery of workshops and online courses to EPSRC-funded centres for doctoral training (CDTs) and the development of commercial short courses for industry which encourages organisations to ask difficult questions about equity, justice, and responsibility in science and innovation.
He teaches public engagement and responsible innovation to undergraduate and postgraduate students across faculties. Stephen is a member of the department's Equality and Equities Committee.
Stephen has a PhD and MSc in Science Communication from Dublin City University, where he explored public engagement with controversial technologies such as fracking.
