To Become an Object Among Objects: Generative Artificial “Intelligence,” Writing, and Linguistic White Supremacy

• Published in: Reading research quarterly 2024-10, Vol.59 (4), p.590-608
• Main Author: Roock, Roberto Santiago
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Case studies; Chatbots; Generative artificial intelligence; Human-computer interaction; Intelligence; Linguistics; Literacy; Mediation; Racial Differences; Racial justice; White supremacy
• ISSN: 0034-0553; 1936-2722
• DOI: 10.1002/rrq.569

This paper critically explores the implications of generative artificial “intelligence” (GAI) technologies for literacy theory and practice through a case study of the author's use of OpenAI's ChatGPT. The study opens with an overview of recent literature surrounding the pedagogical implications of using GAI with a focus on issues of racial justice, outlining an abolitionist political ecology approach to literacy that extends relational theories of mediation to machine‐aided writing. The framework is then applied to data from a cognitive autoethnography of GAI use over a 6‐month period, which included a digital ethnography of ChatGPT and an extended semistructured “interview” with the GAI chatbot. Racial justice issues were found, especially linguistic and other biases. As such, soon‐to‐be ubiquitous artificial intelligence (AI) technologies require profound reconsideration of the productive value of literacy exploited by GAI, which will inevitably be pursued through an acquiescence or fundamental rupture with the dystopian visions of the technology's creators. This study critically examines the implications of generative AI technologies, like ChatGPT, for literacy pedagogy and practice, highlighting racial justice concerns. By employing an abolitionist political ecology approach, the research calls for a profound rethinking of AI’s role in literacy, advocating for radical transformation and resistance against the dystopian trajectories that Silicon Valley AI developers envision.