Surrogate Humanity

We cordially invite you to the lecture on "Surrogate Humanity" with authors Neda Atanasoski and Kalindi Vora on July 5th, 4pm at CST. Based on their eponymous book (Duke Press, 2019), Atanasoski's and Vora's talk examines the role of robots, artificial intelligence and other technologies as substitutes for human labour within a labour system rooted in racial capitalism and patriarchy.

The authors present their interdisciplinary analyses of a range of technologies, including sex robots, military drones, and sharing economy platforms. They show how (implicit and explicit) liberal structures of institutionalised racism, settler colonialism and patriarchy underpin human-machine interactions, and how these technologies reinforce existing racialised and gendered notions of devalued labour, exploitation and capitalist accumulation (in both utopian and dystopian images of the future to come).

Following the book presentation, respondents Markus Gabriel (CST, IZPH) and Aimee van Wynsberghe (IWE) will discuss the implications of the book's theses and explore alternative approaches to technological development that resist the racial and colonial logics sustaining social hierarchies and inequalities.

Join us for an in-depth exploration of the social and ethical dimensions of modern technologies. 

We look forward to your participation!