Seminar
Against the Uncritical Adoption of ‘AI’ Technologies in Academia
- Date
- Friday 6 February 2026
- Time
- Series
- CWTS Research Seminars
- Location
- Online
About the seminar
Under the banner of progress, products have been uncritically adopted or even imposed on users—in past centuries with tobacco and combustion engines, and in the 21st with social media. Currently, we are similarly entangled with artificial intelligence (AI) technology. For example, software updates are rolled out seamlessly and non-consensually, bundled with chatbots. Academics, students, and academic support staff have had no say in it; on the contrary, we are expected to implement it in our teaching and research.
As a response to this, several scientist and scholars working in the Netherlands launched an open letter calling our employers to reverse and rethink their stance on uncritically adopting AI technologies. This letter was followed by a position paper in which we call on universities to reclaim their role as academic institutions. In the seminar I will cover the tech industry’s marketing, hype, & harm; and our arguments for safeguarding higher education, critical thinking, expertise, academic freedom, & scientific integrity.
About the speaker
Andrea Reyes Elizondo is a researcher at CWTS, where she currently focuses on open science and co-coordinates the focal area of Evaluation and Culture. She is also a self-funded PhD at Leiden University Centre for the Arts and Society working on reconstructing the reading possibilities in eighteenth century New Spain.