The Odd Couple: Seemingly disparate fields of cultural studies, education, and artificial…

The Odd Couple: Seemingly disparate fields of cultural studies, education, and artificial intelligence.

Last weekend, I had a mentoring session with Kuldeep Kelkar (from ADP). I told him about my recent experience conducting UX research on a large language model (LLM) and how intrigued I am with how we engage with LLMs. I professed an interest in conducting UX research on LLMs as a means of ensuring they were ethically responsible. And so, he encouraged me to conduct my own studies and publish my insights on an accessible platform, like LinkedIn. So, here we are. Thank you, Kuldeep. May the algorithm Gods be with us.

So, in case we haven’t touched base in a while, you may wonder if and why I left academia. First and foremost, I will always be a professor-scholar-activist. Y’all already know! And, if you ever got a chance to know me, you would know some of my favorite quotes are, “Each time we speak, we teach. Each time we listen, we learn.” and “You gone learn today!”. So, yeah, I’m still teaching, researching, and serving my community. We good.

In fact, my recent interest in user experience research (UXR) and generative artificial intelligence LLMs was/is shaped by my academic journey and intellectual pursuits. I simply shifted my inquiries from analyzing learning/teaching experiences in our classrooms, pop-culture, media, and the community to examining how we (humans, not users) experience and engage in “artificial” learning/teaching experiences in this increasingly virtual world. So, basically, I’m bridging insights from, with, and, between traditional platforms of inquiry (education and media) with how we engage with “artificial” intelligence and drawing connections between epistemology and the evolving landscape of generative AI, LLMs.

Considering that I have critically analyzed how our social institutions of education and media are inclined to exploitative and alienating practices that often contradict their purported contribution to our culture and community, I assume there is no significant difference in this digital platform. Hence, I’m particularly intrigued with our increasing engagement with “artificially” generated sources (LLMs) of intelligence and its trustworthiness. And, I would like to explore pedagogical frameworks of how we make meaning of our LLM teaching and learning educational experiences and the reciprocal influence on our culture and community.

And so, I challenge the field UXR to consider how studies on LLMs could draw from scholastic genealogies of sociology, linguistics, philosophy, cultural studies, curriculum and instruction? How would can these fields of study inform an ethically responsible design and development of LLM products for our future? What do you think?