THE TECHNOLOGY THAT WE ARE (II). II STEAM-H Student Debate Conference
What is STEAM-H?
The problems we face today, which are key to building a better future for all, are characterised by their transversality, which means that they cannot be solved from a single disciplinary field. The problems of our time require a hybridisation of knowledge, approaches, methodologies and perspectives of analysis. Inter- and transdisciplinarity is not a pedagogical or research «option», but a scientific, ethical and social imperative. The acronym STEAM-H encapsulates this imperative, the need to establish spaces and channels for collaboration between disciplines. STEM, of Arte and Humanities.
The 1st STEAM-H Student Debate Days is a commitment to create these spaces and channels of collaboration at the University of Malaga. Its aim is for students from different disciplines, who live in different buildings, scattered around the campus (a symbolic image of disciplinary separation), to meet in a common space to talk and debate about problems that affect and involve us all. It is an exercise in encounter, conversation, but also discovery; in other words, it is about becoming aware that those dimensions of reality that we thought were alien or the responsibility of others also concern us, and not only do they concern us, but we can contribute to them from our respective disciplinary backgrounds.
Context of the 2nd edition
The growing popularity of AI-based generative models, trained for the automatic generation of texts (such as ChatGPT) and images (such as DAll-E2, among others), calls for an in-depth consideration of their potential and limitations. Until now, the production (and above all the creative production) of texts and images seemed to be the prerogative of human beings; however, the appearance of these generative systems opens up a new context for reflection. Beyond the apocalyptic positions that announce the end of humanity or the transhumanist visions that emphasise the value of AI for its progress and overcoming, there is room for debate about what we will gain and what we will lose, as a species, from our coexistence with AI systems.
Against this background, the question we want to discuss is the following:
Do AI-based generative models such as ChatGPT or DAll-E2 constitute tools that can foster human development towards new horizons or, on the contrary, will they lead to a reduction of people's creative potential?
Day: 23 May
Venue: Faculty of Philosophy and Arts
(Rodriguez de Berlanga Meeting Room)
Time: 16:30-18:30
Programme:
16:00-16.30. Institutional presentation, introduction of the topic and group formation
16:30-18:00 Debate
18:10. Proclamation of the best debaters and presentation of prizes.
The debate will be coordinated and moderated by Pedro Plaza. The introduction will be given by Professor Antonio Moreno Ortiz
Coffee, refreshments and snacks will be available during the debate.
Pedro J. Plaza González (Málaga, 1996) graduated in Hispanic Philology at the University of Málaga and holds a Double Master's Degree in Teaching and Management of Spanish Literary and Linguistic Heritage and is currently an FPU researcher at the University of Málaga. He has been a teacher at ASA Málaga since 2018 and has given workshops on theatre, film, debate and travel.
Antonio Moreno Ortiz is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, French and German Philology at the University of Málaga. His research career has always revolved around Computational Linguistics, Corpus Linguistics and Language Technologies, areas in which he has developed a number of linguistic resources, including the development of software and other resources for Natural Language Processing and the Digital Humanities, among which are the software registered: BNC Indexer, OntoTerm, Sentitext, Lingmotif.
