Join Sustain Penn State for the second film in its “Seeing the Human Scale” strand of programming in its annual Intersections sustainability film series. This time we examine the history of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Valerie Veatch’s Ghost in the Machine on Wednesday, October 21, at 6:30 p.m. (EDT), online [note the earlier than usual start time due to the film’s length].

AI is changing the way we live. Seemingly appearing all of a sudden, it is being presented as something that can solve every problem from summarizing your email to solving climate change.

But did AI really appear all of a sudden? Ghost in the Machine takes us on a deep dive into AI’s past, revealing not only a much longer than expected history for the development of this technology but a fundamental conundrum at the core of the technology: no one has a good definition of what “artificial intelligence” actually means! Moreover, when you do start unpacking any definition offered you quickly run into problematic assumptions that emerged from a history of eugenics and racist science. Unless we confront this hidden flaw haunting AI, Veatch’s documentary argues we will only be reinforcing wrong science and baking in fundamental inequity into society’s future.

A thorough and necessary watch, Ghost in the Machine demands we start a society-wide conversation about how we take back control of technologies that are reshaping every aspect of society and reproducing histories of colonization on the digital frontier. And at the very least, it will give you much to think about the next time you fire up ChatGPT or Claude!

Following the film, we will hold a panel discussion with experts on AI, data centers, and ethics.

Free and open to all; pre-registration required at this registration link.