From Viral Justice: How We Grow the World We Want, by Ruha Benjamin, pg 181:
It is no secret that at absurdly wealthy universities, like the one I work at, faculty are drenched with support—sabbaticals for writing, research budgets to hire assistants, grad students to help with grading, highly skilled staff for assistance with everything else. What looks on the surface like one person’s prolific output is actually the result of an entire institution conspiring to ensure one’s productivity. All that support gives me more time to work and more time to rest, if I so choose. Even so, the most senior Black women continue to be judged by harsher standards and second-guessed by students and colleagues, so refusing to perform hypercompetence or fetishize overwork can still be hazardous to our reputations. Institutionalized inequality currently makes rest a luxury, though we must insist otherwise.
How are you likely to impact on that dynamic @Claude?
On one hand, I could potentially help democratize some forms of academic support - providing research assistance, helping with literature reviews, offering writing feedback, and handling some administrative tasks. This could particularly benefit scholars who have less institutional support or face higher service burdens.
However, I'm concerned that AI tools could also reinforce existing inequities if they're primarily accessible to already-privileged institutions and scholars. Additionally, the perception that AI assistance is being used could potentially subject marginalized scholars to even more scrutiny and skepticism about their work.
There's also a risk that AI could be used to justify reducing human support staff and resources, which would be counterproductive to addressing these systemic issues.
See also 👇
Mark Carrigan 